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THE   PILGRIMS'    WAY 

FROM  WINCHESTER  TO  CANTERBURY 


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THE.N9RMAN    TOWKR    AND    SOU .  H    TRANSEPT,    WINCHESTER   CATHEDRAL 


ILL 
A.    H.    H/A 


LONDON 
JOHN    MURRAY,    AT  BFMA  RFT^ 


JAaciaHTAj  A:'iTZii}i:miw  <THadM/.Mj    hiqo^  awA  >iimoT  hamhok  aHi 


THE  PILGRIMS' W^^Y 


•  •  .  •  -• 


FROM  WINCHESTER'^  " 
TO  CANTERBURY 

BY   JULIA    CARTWRIGHT 


t,(i.'(".  ■■  — 


ILLUSTRATED   BY 
A.    H.    HALLAM    MURRAY 


LONDON 
JOHN    MURRAY,    ALBEMARLE    STREET,    W. 

191 1 


I     c 


■  c    «      •  .    .  .        « 

■  c  ,   «        •     •  .    ,  •      • 


"  From  every  shire's  ende 
Of  Engelond,  to  Caunterbury  they  wende, 
The  holy  blissful  martyr  for  to  seeke, 
That  them  hath  holpen  when  that  they  were  sicke." 


All  Rights  Reserved 


i      >    ) 


PREFACE 

This  account  of  the  Way  trodden  by  the  pilgrims 
of  the  Middle  Ages  through  the  South  of  Eng- 
land to  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury 
originally  appeared  in  i\\Q  Art  Jo2trnal  iov  1892, 
with  illustrations  by  Mr.  A.  Quinton.  It  was 
published  in  the  following  year  as  a  separate 
volume,  and  reprinted  in  1895  and  1901.  Now 
by  the  courtesy  of  Messrs.  Virtue's  representa- 
tives, and  in  response  to  a  continued  demand,  it 
appears  again  in  a  new  and   revised  form,  with 


rr  ir\  '\  r\  r*  r* 


,  yj:;.  ;  ...-  PREFACE 

■'  "the    additional    attraction   of    illustrations    from 
original  drawings  by  Mr.   Hallam  Murray. 

During  the  twenty  years  which  have  elapsed 
since  these  pages  were  first  written,  a  whole 
literature  has  grown  up  round  the  Pilgrims' 
Way.  Not  only  have  scholarly  papers  on  separate 
sections  of  the  road  appeared  in  the  Journals  of 
Archaeological  Societies,  but  several  valuable 
works  on  the  subject  have  been  issued  by  writers 
of  authority.  Mr.  H.  Snowden-Ward  has  written 
a  book  on  "  The  Canterbury  Pilgrimages,"  in 
Messrs.  A.  &  C.  Black's  Pilgrimage  Series,  in 
which  he  deals  at  length  with  the  life  and  death, 
the  cult  and  miracles  of  St.  Thomas,  and  the 
different  routes  taken  by  pilgrims  to  his  shrine. 
Mr.  Palmer  has  described  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  Way  in  his  treatise  on  "  Three  Surrey 
Churches,"  and  only  last  autumn  Mr.  Elliston- 
Erwood  published  an  excellent  little  guide-book 
called  "  The  Pilgrims'  Road,"  for  the  use  of 
cyclists  and  pedestrians,  in  Messrs.  Warne's 
Homeland  Pocket-book  Series.  But  the  most 
thorough   and   systematic  attempt  to  reconstruct 


PREFACE  Vll 

the  route  taken  by  pilgrims  from  Winchester  to 
Canterbury  has  been  made  by  Mr.  Belloc  in  his 
admirable  work,  "  The  Old  Road."  The  author 
himself  walked  along  the  ancient  track,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  filling  up  many  gaps  where  the  road 
had  been  lost,  and  in  recovering  almost  the  whole 
of  the  Way,  "yard  by  yard  from  the  capital  of 
Hampshire  to  the  capital  of  Kent."  This  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  the  road  and  its  characteristics 
have  led  him  to  make  several  alterations  in  the 
line  of  the  Way  marked  on  the  Ordnance  Map, 
which  had  hitherto  served  as  the  basis  of  most 
descriptions.  But  as  Mr.  Belloc  himself  recog- 
nises, it  is  clear  that  pilgrims  often  left  the 
original  road  to  visit  churches  and  shrines  in 
the  neighbourhood.  Thus,  in  several  places,  new 
tracks  sprang  up  along  the  downs  to  which  local 
tradition  has  given  the  name  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way, 
and  which  it  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish 
from  the  main  road.  Like  Bunyan's  pilgrims, 
when  they  came  to  the  foot  of  the  hill  Difficulty, 
"  one  turned  to  the  left  hand,  and  the  other  to  the 
right,  but  the  narrow  way  lay  right  up  the  hill." 


Vlll  PREFACE 

In  this  edition  of  my  book  some  obvious 
errors  have  been  corrected,  and  certain  doubtful 
points  have  been  cleared  up  with  the  help  of 
experience  gained  by  other  workers  in  the  same 
field.  But,  as  a  rule,  my  object  has  been  not 
so  much  to  draw  attention  to  the  actual  road 
as  to  describe  the  antiquities  and  objects  of 
interest  which  arrest  the  traveller's  notice  on  his 
journey.  From  whatever  side  we  approach  it, 
the  subject  is  a  fascinating  one.  All  of  these 
different  studies,  varied  in  aims  and  scope  as 
they  may  be,  bear  witness  to  the  perennial  in- 
terest which  the  Pilgrims'  Way  inspires.  The 
beauty  of  the  country  through  which  the  old 
road  runs,  its  historic  associations  and  famous 
memories,  the  ancient  churches  and  houses  which 
lie  on  its  course,  will  always  attract  those  who 
love  and  reverence  the  past,  and  will  lead  many 
to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  mediaeval 
pilgrims  along  the  Way  to  Canterbury. 

Julia  Cartwright. 

OCKHAM,  Nov.    I,   191  I. 


r^ 


^- 


-  —  WmcV 


THE    RIVER    ITCHEN    WHERE    IT    LEAVES    THE    TOWN. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

1.      THE    pilgrims'    WAY 


PAGE 
I 


II.      WINCHESTER    TO    ALTON    . 


20 


in.      ALTON    TO    COMPTON 


44 


IV.      COMPTON    TO    SHALFORD 


'J 


V.      SHALFORD    TO    ALBURY 


VI.      SHERE    TO    REIGATE 


75 
^7 


IX 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  ■  PAGE 

VII.  REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING             ....       IO3 

VIII.  OXFORD    TO    WROTHAM     .             .             .             .             '125 

IX.  WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE          .             .             -       '^  37 

X.  HOLLINGBOURNE    TO    LENHAM              .             .             -153 

XI.  CHARING    TO    GODMERSHAM       .             .             .             .        167 

XII.  CHILHAM    TO    HARBLEDOWN      .             .             .             .       182 

XIII.  HARBLEDOWN    TO    CANTERBURY           .  .             -193 

XIV.  THE    martyr's    SHRINE   .....       2O3 

INDEX 217 


NOTE   ON   THE   BINDING 

The  "  Canterbury  Bell "  and  the  Badges,  represented  on  the  cover 
of  the  book,  were  worn  by  the  Pilgrims  on  their  return  from 
the   Shrine   of  St.   Thomas.     The  Badges   were  made  of  lead. 


NEAR    WROTHAM    WATER. 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


COLOURED    PLATES 


THE      NORMAN      TOWER     AND     SOUTH      TRANSEPT,       WINCHESTER 
CATHEDRAL  .... 

WINCHESTER    CATHEDRAL    FROM    THE    NORTH 

CHAWTON    HOUSE 

THE   MOTE,    IGHTHAM  . 

AYLESFORD    BRIDGE 

COTTAGE   AT    BOARLEY,    NEAR    BOXLEY 

CHARING 

CANTERBURY    CATHEDRAL    FROM    THE   SOUTH-WEST 

xi 


■                     *                     •                      • 

Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

NORTH 

•             32 

.             50 

.          136 

.          146 

•          152 

.          170 

SOUTH-WEST 

.          192 

Xll 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


HALF-TONES 

WINCHESTER    CATHEDRAL,    SOUTH    AISLE   OF    CHOIR 
king's   GATE,    WINCHESTER,    FROM    THE    CLOSE 
LOSELEY        ...... 

THE    HOSPITAL,    GUILDFORD  . 

OLD    YEWS   AND    OAK    IN    EASTWELL   PARK 

THE   WEST   GATE,    CANTERBURY      . 

MERCERY    LANE,    CANTERBURY 

THE   MARTYRDOM,    CANTERBURY    CATHEDRAL 


FACING  PAGE 


25 
28 

67 

72 

176 

194 

199 

205 


LINE   BLOCKS 


ON    "  THE   WAY  "    BETWEEN    KEMSING    AND   OTFORD 


THE   APPROACH    TO   WINCHESTER    FROM    THE   SOUTH 
THE    RIVER    ITCHEN    WHERE    IT   LEAVES   THE   TOWN 
NEAR    WROTHAM    WATER        .... 
ST.    CROSS   AND   ST.    KATHERINK's    HILL 


DOORWAY    IN    CANTERBURY    CLOISTERS    THROUGH 
PASSED    ON    HIS    WAY   TO   VESPERS 

ST.    CROSS    FROM    THE   MEADOWS  . 

THE    ENTRANCE   TO    ST.    CROSS    HOSPITAL 

BOX    HILL     

THE  CATHEDRAL  FROM  THE  SOUTH   . 

ROOF  OF  strangers'  HALL,  WINCHESTER  . 

THE  WEST  GATE,  WINCHESTER   . 

ON  THE  RIVER  ITCHEN,  WINCHESTER  . 


Title-page 

PACE 

V 

ix 

xi 

I 


WHICH    BECKET 


8 
13 

18 
20 
21 

23 
27 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Xlll 


THATCHED   COTTAGE,    MARTYR    WORTHY 
CHILLAND    FARM,    NEAR    ITCHEN    ABBAS 
NEW   ALRESFORD 
THE    hog's   back 

JANE  Austen's  house,  chawton 

FARNHAM    CASTLE 

CROOKSBURY    FROM    NEWLANDS    CORNER 

COMPTON    VILLAGE 

COMPTON    CHURCH 

ST.    KATHERINE's,    GUILDFORD 

ST.  Martha's  chapel 

THE    hog's    back 

ST.  Martha's  from  the  hog's  back 

ST.  Martha's  from  chilworth 

albury  old  church . 

the  mill,  gomshall  . 

shere    ..... 

crossways  farm,  near  wotton 

wotton 

BOX    hill    and    DORKING    CHURCH    SPIRE 

the   white    horse,    DORKING 

BETWEEN    DORKING    AND    BETCHWORTH    LOOKING 

ON    "  THE    WAY  "    ABOVE    BETCHWORTH 

WINDMILL   ON    REIGATE   COMMON 

REIGATE   COMMON  .... 


WEST 


PAOB 

34 
36 
40 

44 
47 
53 
55 
63 

65 

70 

71 

73 

75 
81 

85 

87 
89 

91 

93 

95 
96 

97 
loo 
103 

105 


XIV 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


LOOKING    EAST   FROM   GATTON    PARK 

GATTON    TOWN    HALL    . 

MERSTHAM    CHURCH      . 

THE   WHITE    HART,    GODSTONE 

OLD    HOUSE   IN    OXTED. 

OXTED   CHURCH    .... 

BRASTED       ..... 

CHEVENING   CHURCH     . 

OTFORD   CHURCH 

THE    PORCH,    KEMSING   CHURCH     . 

WROTHAM    CHURCH 

WROTHAM,    LOOKING    SOUTH 

THE    BULL,    WROTHAM  . 

TROTTESCLIFFE     .... 

FORD   PLACE,    NEAR   WROTHAM       . 

THE    FRIARY,    AYLESFORD 

KITS   COTY    HOUSE 

LOOKING   WEST    FROM    ABOVE    BOXLEY 

HOLLINGBOURNE    HOUSE 

MARKET-PLACE,    LENHAM 

IN   CHARING    VILLAGE  . 


THE    PALACE,    WROTHAM 


CHILHAM       ..... 
ON    THE    VILLAGE    GREEN,    CHARTHAM 
ST.    NICHOLAS',    HARBLEDOWN 
SITE   OF   THE   SHRINE    OF    ST.    THOMAS, 


ABBEY 


CANTERBURY    CATHEDRAL 


PAGE 

io8 
no 

"3 

1x6 
117 
120 
123 
125 
133 
135 
137 

139 

140 

141 

144 

147 
149 

155 
163 
167 
181 
182 
187 

193 

209 


miiiii.         ^■.:    WS,     .      .         f^^j^ 


IfpufiMitjii 


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*    ,1,    '  /••         "'"ii.        .■<.■■",  w.„  iw.i^- '.y ,,..,;  .I.-...., 


5'CroS!  «  S'Kafksvinii  Hill     M 


.,   .-i'f- 


ST.    CROSS    AND    ST.    KATHERINE  S    HILL. 


CHAPTER   I 


THE    PILGRIMS     WAY 


Three  hundred  and  seventy  years  have  passed 
since  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  at  Canterbury  was 
swept  away,  and  the  martyr's  ashes  were  scattered 
to  the  winds.  The  age  of  pilgrimages  has  gone 
by,  the  conditions  of  life  have  changed,  and  the 
influences  which  drew  such  vast  multitudes  of 
men  and  women  to  worship  at  the  murdered 
Archbishop's  tomb  have  long  ago  ceased  to  work 
on  the  popular  mind.     No  longer  does  the  merry 


2  THE    PILGRIMS     WAY 

cavalcade  of  Chaucer's  lay  ride  forth  in  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  spring  morning,  knight  and  merchant, 
scholar  and  lawyer.  Prioress  and  Wife  of  Bath, 
yeoman  and  priest  and  friars,  a  motley  company 
from  all  parts  of  the  realm,  "ready  to  wenden  on 
their  pilgrimage  with  full  devout  courage "  to 
Canterbury.  The  days  of  pilgrimages  are  over, 
their  fashion  has  passed  away,  but  still  some  part 
of  the  route  which  the  travellers  took  can  be 
traced,  and  the  road  they  trod  still  bears  the 
name  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way.  Over  the  Surrey 
hills  and  through  her  stately  parks  the  dark  yews 
which  lined  the  path  may  yet  be  seen.  By  many 
a  quiet  Kentish  homestead  the  grassy  track  still 
winds  its  way  along  the  lonely  hill-side  overlook- 
ing the  blue  Weald,  and,  if  you  ask  its  name,  the 
labourer  who  guides  the  plough,  or  the  waggoner 
driving  his  team,  will  tell  you  that  it  is  the  Pil- 
grims' Road  to  Canterbury.  So  the  old  name 
lives,  and  the  memory  of  that  famous  pilgrimage 
which  Chaucer  sang  has  not  yet  died  out  of  the 
people's  heart.  And  although  strangers  journey 
no  longer  from  afar  to  the  martyr's  shrine,  it  is 
still  a  pleasant  thing  to  ride  out  on  a  spring  or 


THREE    ROUTES  3 

summer  morning  and  follow  the  Pilgrims'  Way. 
For  the  scenes  through  which  it  leads  are  fair, 
and  the  memories  that  it  wakes  belong  to  the 
noblest  pages  of  England's  story. 

In  those  old  days  the  pilgrims  who  came  to 
Canterbury  approached  the  holy  city  by  one  of 
the  three  following  routes.  There  was  first  of  all 
the  road  taken  by  Chaucer's  pilgrims  from  Lon- 
don, through  Deptford,  Greenwich,  Rochester, 
and  Sittingbourne;  the  way  trodden  by  all  who 
came  from  the  North,  the  Midlands,  and  the 
Eastern  Counties,  and  by  those  foreigners  who, 
like  Erasmus,  had  first  visited  London.  But 
the  greater  number  of  the  foreign  pilgrims  from 
France,  Germany,  and  Italy  landed  at  Sandwich 
Haven  or  Dover,  and  approached  Canterbury 
from  the  south  ;  while  others,  especially  those 
who  came  from  Normandy  and  Brittany,  landed 
at  Southampton  and  travelled  through  the 
southern  counties  of  Hampshire,  Surrey,  and 
Kent.  Many  of  these  doubtless  stopped  at  Win- 
chester, attracted  by  the  fame  of  St.  Swithun, 
the  great  healing  Bishop  ;  and  either  here  or 
else  at  Guildford,  they  would  be  joined  by  the 


THE    pilgrims'    WAY 


pilgrims  from  the  West  of  England  on  their 
way  to  the  Shrine  of  Canterbury.  This  was 
the  route  taken  by  Henry  II.  when,  landing  at 
Southampton  on  his  return  from  France,  he 
made  his  first  memorable  pilgrimage  to  the  tomb 
of  the  murdered  Archbishop,  in  the  month  of 
July,  II 74.  And  this  route  it  is,  which,  trodden 
by  thousands  of  pilgrims  during  the  next  three 
centuries,  may  still  be  clearly  defined  through  the 
greater  part  of  its  course,  and  which  in  Surrey 
and  Kent  bears  the  historic  name  of  the  Pilgrims' 
Way.  A  very  ancient  path  it  is,  older  far  than 
the  days  of  Plantagenets  and  Normans,  of  shrines 
and  pilgrimages.  For  antiquarian  researches 
have  abundantly  proved  this  road  to  be  an  old 
British  track,  which  was  in  use  even  before  the 
coming  of  the  Romans.  It  may  even  have  been, 
as  some  writers  suppose,  the  road  along  which 
caravans  of  merchants  brought  their  ingots  of 
tin  from  Cornwall  to  be  shipped  at  what  was 
then  the  great  harbour  of  Britain,  the  Rutupine 
Port,  afterwards  Sandwich  Haven,  and  then 
borne  overland  to  Massilia  and  the  Mediterranean 
shores.     Ingots  of  tin,  buried  it  may  be  in  haste 


THE   TIN    ROAD  5 

by  merchants  attacked  on  their  journey  by 
robbers,  have,  it  is  said,  been  dug  up  at  various 
places  along  this  route,  and  British  earthworks 
have  been  found  in  its  immediate  neighbour- 
hood. 

The  road  was,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  used 
by  the  Romans  ;  and  all  along  its  course  remains 
of  Roman  villas,  baths,  and  pavements  have 
been  brought  to  light,  together  with  large  quan- 
tities of  Roman  coins,  cinerary  urns,  and  pottery 
of  the  most  varied  description.  In  mediaeval 
days  this  "  tin  road,"  as  Mr.  Grant  Allen  calls 
it,  still  remained  the  principal  thoroughfare  from 
the  West  to  the  East  of  England.  It  followed 
the  long  line  of  hills  which  runs  through  the 
north  of  Hampshire,  and  across  Surrey  and 
Kent,  that  famous  chalk  ridge  which  has  for  us 
so  many  different  associations,  with  whose  scenery 
William  Cobbett,  for  instance,  has  made  us  all 
familiar  in  the  story  of  his  rides  to  and  from 
the  Wen.  And  it  lay  outside  the  great  trackless 
and  impassable  forest  of  Anderida,  which  in  those 
days  still  covered  a  great  part  of  the  south-east 
counties   of    England.      Dean    Stanley,    in    his 

I* 


THE    pilgrims'    WAY 


eloquent  account  of  the  Canterbury  pilgrimage, 
describes  this  road  as  a  byway,  and  remarks  that 
the  pilgrims  avoided  the  regular  roads,  **  probably 
for  the  same  reason  as  in  the  days  of  Shamgar, 
the  son  of  Anath,  the  highways  were  unoccupied, 
and  the  traveller  walked  through  byways."  But 
the  statement  is  misleading,  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  this  road  was,  if  not  the  only  means 
of  communication  between  West  and  East,  at 
least  the  principal  thoroughfare  across  this  part 
of  England,  and  was  as  such  the  route  naturally 
chosen  by  pilgrims  to  Canterbury. 

Certain  peculiarities,  it  is  interesting  to  notice, 
mark  its  course  from  beginning  to  end.  It  clings 
to  the  hills,  and,  wherever  it  is  possible,  avoids 
the  marshy  ground  of  the  valleys.  It  runs,  not 
on  the  summit  of  the  downs,  but  about  half-way 
down  the  hill-side,  where  there  is  shelter  from 
the  wind,  as  well  as  sunshine  to  be  had  under 
the  crest  of  the  ridge.  And  its  course  is  marked 
by  rows  of  yew  trees,  often  remarkable  for  their 
size  and  antiquity.  Some  of  these  are  at  least 
seven  or  eight  hundred  years  old,  and  must  have 


THE    YEW-TREE   S    SHADE  7 

reared  their  ancient  boughs  on  the  hill-side  before 
the  feet  of  pilgrims  ever  trod  these  paths.  So 
striking  is  this  feature  of  the  road,  and  so  fixed 
is  the  idea  that  some  connection  exists  between 
these  yew  trees  and  the  Pilgrims'  Way,  that  they 
are  often  said  to  have  been  planted  with  the 
express  object  of  guiding  travellers  along  the 
road  to  Canterbury.  This,  however,  we  need 
hardly  say,  is  a  fallacy.  Yews  are  by  no  means 
peculiar  to  the  Pilgrims'  Way,  but  are  to  be 
found  along  every  road  in  chalk  districts.  They 
spring  up  in  every  old  hedgerow  on  this  soil, 
and  are  for  the  most  part  sown  by  the  birds. 
But  the  presence  of  these  venerable  and  pictur- 
esque forms  does  lend  an  undeniable  charm  to 
the  ancient  track.  And  in  some  places  where  the 
line  of  cultivation  gradually  spreading  upwards 
has  blotted  out  every  other  trace  of  the  road, 
where  the  ploughshare  has  upturned  the  sod,  and 
the  hedgerows  have  disappeared,  three  or  four 
of  these  grand  old  trees  may  still  be  seen  stand- 
ing by  themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  ploughed 
field,  the  last  relics  of  a  bygone  age. 

The    murder   of   Becket    took    place    on    the 


8 


THE    PILGRIMS     WAY 


DOORWAY    IN    CANTERBURY   CLOISTERS   THROUGH   WHICH    BECKET 
PASSED   ON    HIS   WAY    TO    VESPERS. 

29th    of    December,    1170.      At   five    o'clock   on 
that   winter  evening,  as  the  Archbishop  was  on 


becket's  canterbury  9 

his  way  to  vespers,  the  King's  men,  Reginald 
Fitz  Urse  and  three  knights  who  had  accom- 
panied him  from  Saltwood  Castle,  rushed  upon 
him  with  their  swords  and  murdered  him  in 
the  north  transept  of  his  own  Cathedral.  The 
tragic  circumstance  of  Becket's  end  made  a 
profound  impression  on  the  people  of  England, 
and  universal  horror  was  excited  by  this  act 
of  sacrilege.  Whatever  his  faults  may  have 
been,  the  murdered  Archbishop  had  dared  to 
stand  up  against  the  Crown  for  the  rights  of 
the  Church,  and  had  died  rather  than  yield 
to  the  King's  demands.  "  For  the  name  of 
Jesus  and  the  defence  of  the  Church  I  am 
ready  to  die,"  were  his  last  words,  as  he  fell 
under  the  assassins'  blows.  When  he  landed 
at  Sandwich,  on  his  return  from  France,  the 
country  folk  crowded  to  meet  him  and  hailed 
him  as  the  father  of  orphans  and  deliverer  of 
the  oppressed,  crying,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  His  journey  to 
Canterbury  was  one  long  triumphal  procession.^ 
The  poor  looked  to  him  as  their  champion  and 

1  W.  H.  Hutton,  "  Thomas  Becket,"  p.  249. 


lO  THE    pilgrims'    WAY 


defender,  who  had  laid  down  his  life  in  the  cause 
of  freedom  and  righteousness.  Henceforth  Thomas 
became  a  national  hero,  and  was  everywhere 
honoured  as  the  Martyr  of  the  English. 

The  popular  belief  in  his  holiness  was  con- 
firmed  by  the  miracles    that    were   wrought   in 
his    name   from   the   moment   of  his   death.     A 
violent  storm  broke  over  the  Cathedral  when  the 
fatal  deed  was  done,  and  was  followed  by  a  red 
glow,  which  illuminated  the  choir  where  the  dead 
man's  body  was  laid  before  the  altar.     The  next 
day  the  monks  buried  the  corpse  in  a  marble  tomb 
behind  Our  Lady's  altar  in  the  under-croft.     For 
nearly  a  year  no  mass  was  said  in  the  Cathedral, 
no  music  was   heard,   no  bells  were   rung ;    the 
altars  were  stripped  of  their  ornaments,  and  the 
crucifixes  and  images  were  covered  over.     Mean- 
while, reports  reached  Canterbury  of  the  wonder- 
ful cures  performed  by  the  martyred  Archbishop. 
On  the  third  day  after  the  murder,  the  wife  of 
a  Sussex  knight,   who  suffered   from   blindness, 
invoked    the    blessed    martyr's    help,    and    was 
restored   to   sight.      And  on    the   very  night   of 
the    burial    the    paralytic   wife    of    a    citizen    of 


SIGNS   AND   WONDERS  II 

Canterbury  was  cured  by  a  garment  which  her 
husband  had  dipped  in  the  murdered  saint's 
blood. 

These  marvels  were  followed  by  a  stream  of 
devout  pilgrims  who  came  to  seek  healing  at  the 
martyr's  tomb  or  to  pay  their  vows  for  the 
mercies  which  they  had  received.  A  monk  was 
stationed  at  the  grave  to  receive  offerings  and 
report  the  miracles  that  were  wrought  to  the 
Chapter.  At  first  these  wonders  were  kept  secret, 
for  fear  of  the  King,  and  of  Becket's  enemies,  the 
De  Brocs,  whose  men  guarded  the  roads  to 
Canterbury.  The  doors  of  the  crypt  were  kept 
bolted  and  barred,  and  only  the  poor  in  the  town 
and  the  neighbouring  villages  crept  to  the  tomb.^ 
But  on  Easter  Day,  1171,  the  crowds  rushed  in 
to  see  a  dumb  man  who  was  said  to  have  recovered 
his  speech  ;  and  on  the  following  Friday  the  crypt 
was  thrown  open  to  the  public.  From  that  time, 
writes  Benedict,  the  monk  of  Canterbury,  "  the 
scene  of  the  Pool  of  Bethesda  was  daily  renewed 
in  the  Cathedral,  and  numbers  of  sick  and  help- 
less persons  were  to  be  seen  lying  on  the  pave- 

'  E.  Abbott,  "  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,"  i.  223. 


12  THE    PILGRIMS     WAY 

ment  of  the  great  church."  ^  "  These  great  miracles 
are  wrought,"  wrote  John  of  Salisbury,  an  intimate 
friend  of  Becket,  who  became  Bishop  of  Chartres 
in  II 76,  and  was  an  able  statesman  and  scholar, 
"  in  the  place  of  his  passion  and  in  the  place 
where  he  lay  before  the  great  altar  before  his  burial, 
and  in  the  tomb  where  he  was  laid  at  last,  the 
blind  see,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dumb  speak,  the 
lame  walk,  lepers  are  cleansed,  and,  a  thing  un- 
heard of  since  the  days  of  our  fathers,  the  dead 
are  raised  to  life."  ^ 

From  all  parts  of  England  the  sick  and 
suffering  now  crowded  to  Canterbury,  telling 
the  same  marvellous  tale,  how  Thomas  had 
appeared  to  them  robed  in  white,  with  the  thin 
red  streak  of  blood  across  his  face,  bringing  heal- 
ing and  peace.  "  In  towns  and  villages,  in  castles 
and  cottages,  throughout  the  kingdom,"  writes 
another  contemporary  chronicler,  "  every  one  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest  wishes  to  visit  and 
honour  his  tomb.     Clerks  and  laymen,  rich  and 


^  T.    C.    Robertson,    "  Materials    for    the    History   of  Archbishop 
Becket,"  ii.  47,  iv.  145. 
^  Op.  cit.  p.  322. 


o 

t- 

O 


o 

5! 
H 


O 

Pi 
b 

CA 

c« 
O 

Oi 

u 

H 

CO 


14  THE    PILGRIMS     WAY 

poor,  nobles  and  common  people,  fathers  and 
mothers  with  their  children,  masters  with  their 
servants,  all  come  hither,  moved  by  the  same 
spirit  of  devotion.  They  travel  by  day  and  night 
in  winter  and  summer,  however  cold  the  weather 
may  be,  and  the  inns  and  hostelries  on  the  road 
to  Canterbury  are  as  crowded  with  people  as 
great  cities  are  on  market  days."^ 

On  the  2 1  St  of  February,  1173,  Pope  Alex- 
ander III.  pronounced  the  decree  of  canonisation, 
and  fixed  the  Feast  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury 
on  the  day  of  the  Archbishop's  martyrdom.  In 
July,  1 174,  King  Henry  II.,  moved  by  the  reports 
which  reached  him  in  Normandy  of  the  popular 
enthusiasm  for  Becket,  and  fearing  the  effects  of 
the  divine  wrath,  came  himself  to  do  penance  at 
the  martyr's  tomb.  Three  months  after  the  King 
of  the  English  had  given  this  public  proof  of  his 
penitence  and  obtained  release  from  the  Church's 
censures,  "  the  glorious  choir  of  Conrad  "  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  on  the  night  of  September  5, 
1 1 74.  The  rebuilding  of  the  church,  which  was 
largely   assisted    by  offerings  at   Becket's   tomb, 

^  "  Anonymus  Lambethiensis.     Materials,"  ii.  140. 


BECKET  S   CROWN 


15 


^^4  ^ 

■SS'S'  Ij^^ 


THE    ENTRANCE   TO    ST.    CROSS    HOSPITAL. 


was  not  finished  until  1220,  when  the  Saint's 
body  was  removed  to  its  final  [resting-place  in 
the  new  apse  at  the  East  end  of  the  Chapel  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity,  where  the  Archbishop  had 
said  his  first  mass. 

On  Tuesday,  July  7,  an  immense  concourse 
of  people  of  all  ranks  and  ages  assembled  at 
Canterbury.  "The  city  and  villages  round," 
writes  an  eye-witness,   "  were  so  filled  with  folk 


l6  THE    pilgrims'    WAY 

that  many  had  to  abide  in  tents  or  under  the 
open  sky."^  Free  hospitality  was  given  to  all,  and 
the  streets  of  Canterbury  literally  flowed  with  wine. 
A  stately  procession,  led  by  the  young  King 
Henry  III.  and  the  patriot  Archbishop  Stephen 
Langton,  entered  the  crypt,  and  bore  the  Saint's 
remains  with  solemn  ceremonial  to  their  new 
resting-place.  Here  a  sumptuous  shrine,  adorned 
with  gold  plates  and  precious  gems,  wrought  "  by 
the  greatest  master  of  the  craft  "  that  could  be 
found  in  England,  received  the  martyrs  relics, 
and  the  new  apse  became  known  as  *'  Becket's 
Crown." 

The  fame  of  St.  Thomas  now  spread  into 
all  parts  of  the  world  during  the  next  two  cen- 
turies, and  the  Canterbury  pilgrimage  was  the 
most  popular  in  Christendom.  The  7th  of  July 
was  solemnly  set  apart  as  the  Feast  of  the 
Translation  of  St.  Thomas,  and  henceforth  the 
splendour  of  this  festival  threw  the  anniversary 
of  the  actual  martyrdom  into  the  shade.  The 
very  fact  that  it  took  place  in  summer  and  not 
in  winter  naturally  attracted  greater  numbers  of 

^  "Thomas  Saga,"  ii.  202. 


AS    CHAUCER    SINGS  I7 

pilgrims  from  a  distance.  And  on  the  jubilees 
or  fiftieth  anniversaries  of  the  Translation,  the 
concourse  of  people  assembled  at  Canterbury 
was  enormous. 

Besides  the  crowds  attracted  by  these  two 
chief  festivals,  pilgrims  came  to  Canterbury  in 
smaller  parties  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  but 
more  especially  in  the  spring  and  summer  months. 
Each  year,  as  Chaucer  sings,  when  the  spring- 
time comes  round, 

"  When  that  Aprille  with  his  showers  sweete 
The  drought  of  Marche  had  pierced  to  the  roote  .  .  . 
When  Zephyrus  eke  with  his  sweete  breathe 
Inspired  hath  in  every  holt  and  heathe 
The  tender  croppes.  .  .  . 
And  small  fovvles  maken  melodic, 
That  slcepen  all  the  night  with  open  eye, 
Then  longen  folk  to  go  on  pilgrimages, 
And  palmers  for  to  seeken  strange  '  strandes "... 
And  specially,  from  every  shire's  ende 
Of  Engelond,  to  Caunterbury  they  wende, 
The  holy  blissful  martyr  for  to  seeke 
That  them  hath  holpen  when  that  they  were  sicke." 

The  passage  of  these  caravans  of  pilgrims  could 
not  fail  to  leave  its  mark  on  the  places  and  the 
people   along   their   path.      The   sight   of   these 


i8 


THE    PILGRIMS     WAY 


B«xHiu  M'^-^'^r^-^'^^fe.t;^.;^- " '  •'"■"i^-s;:^-'*-^  %5.: 


BOX    HILL. 


strange  faces,  the  news  they  brought,  and  the 
tales  they  told  must  have  impressed  the  dwellers 
in  these  quiet  woodlands  and  lonely  hills.  And 
traces  of  their  presence  remain  to  this  day  on  the 
Surrey  downs  and  in  the  lanes  of  Kent.  They 
may,  or  may  not,  have  been  responsible  for  the 
edible  variety  of  large  white  snails.  Helix pomatia, 
commonly  called  Roman  snails,  which  are  found 
in  such  abundance  at  Albury  in  Surrey,  and  at 
Charing  in  Kent,  as  well  as  at  other  places  along 


WAYSIDE    MEMORIALS  I9 

the  road,  and  which  the  Norman  French  pilgrims 
are  traditionally  said  to  have  brought  over  with 
them.  But  the  memory  of  their  pilgrimage  sur- 
vives in  the  wayside  chapels  and  shrines  which 
sprung  up  along  the  track,  in  the  churches  which 
were  built  for  their  benefit,  or  restored  and 
decorated  by  their  devotion,  above  all  in  the 
local  names  still  in  common  use  along  the  country- 
side. Pilgrims'  Lodge  and  Pilgrims'  Ferry, 
Palmers'  Wood,  Paternoster  Lane — these,  and 
similar  terms,  still  speak  of  the  custom  which 
had  taken  such  fast  hold  of  the  popular  mind 
during  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after 
the  death  of  Becket,  and  recall  the  long  proces- 
sions of  pilgrims  which  once  wound  over  these 
lonely  hills  and  through  these  green  lanes  on 
their  way  to  the  martyr's  shrine. 


lftiiil^^'--.</ia:'\.'.  ■  '  ,1.1.1', I'l-ii, 


'-■'i'liiiii: 


"(^f^C''f?i' 


fti^nl»'f^ 


.c;:?i-: 


..;*=?! 


%fcit\ 


'  'MvS 


.^ 


X.r^ 


Ml 


»^'1 


•^      "X    i^X" 


Tht:  C^^fdtAi  ;''3,-M  Hne  5et*nt  .^il'V^r* 


THE  CATHEDRAL  FROM  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER   II 


WINCHESTER    TO   ALTON 

Few  traces  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way  are  now  to  be 
found  in  Hampshire.  But  early  writers  speak 
of  an  old  road  which  led  to  Canterbury  from 
Winchester,  and  the  travellers'  course  would  in 
all  probability  take  them  through  this  ancient 
city.  Here  the  foreign  pilgrims  who  landed  at 
Southampton,  and  those  who  came  from  the 
West  of  England,  would  find  friendly  shelter  in 

one  or  other  of  the  religious  houses,   and  enjoy 

20 


AT   WINCHESTER 


21 


1"  \v'^^'~\:"y'^     ^s^i  »f   5tt.»»u;>f<:  Hall    VWc^^gt^ 


ROOF   OF   strangers'    HALL,    WINCHESTER. 


a  brief  resting-time  before  they  faced  the  perils 
of  the  road.  The  old  capital  of  Wessex,  the 
home  of  Alfred,  and  favourite  residence  of  Saxon 
and  Norman  kings,  had  many  attractions  to 
offer  to  the  devout  pilgrim.  Here  was  the 
splendid  golden  shrine  of  St.  Swithun,  the  gentle 
Bishop  who  had  watched  over  the  boyhood  of 
Alfred.  In  a.d.  971,  a  hundred  years  after  the 
Saint's  death,  his  bones  had  been  solemnly  re- 


22  WINCHESTER   TO   ALTON 

moved  from  their  resting-place  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Minster,  where  he  had  humbly  begged  to 
be  buried  "  so  that  the  sun  might  not  shine  upon 
him,"  and  laid  by  Edgar  and  Dunstan  behind  the 
altar  of  the  new  Cathedral  which  Bishop  Ethel- 
wold  had  raised  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  church 
of  Birinus.  This  was  done,  says  the  chronicler 
Wulfstan,  although  the  Saint  himself  ''protested 
weeping  that  his  body  ought  not  to  be  set  in 
God's  holy  church  amidst  the  splendid  memorials 
of  the  ancient  fathers,"  a  legend  which  may  have 
given  rise  to  the  popular  tradition  of  the  forty 
days'  rain,  and  the  supposed  delay  in  the  Saint's 
funeral.  From  that  time  countless  miracles  were 
wrought  at  the  shrine  of  St.  Swithun,  and  multi- 
tudes from  all  parts  of  England  flocked  to  seek 
blessing  and  healing  at  the  great  church  which 
henceforth  bore  his  name. 

Under  the  rule  of  Norman  and  Angevin 
kings,  the  venerable  city  had  attained  the  height 
of  wealth  and  prosperity.  In  those  days  the 
population  numbered  some  20,000,  and  there  are 
said  to  have  been  as  many  as  173  churches 
and   chapels   within    its   wall.      In    spite   of  the 


lh»VV»jrOaie      Wincll««-'T    ^, 


THE    WEST    GATE,    WINCHESTER. 


24  WINCHESTER   TO   ALTON 

horrors  of  civil  war,  which  twice  desolated  the 
streets,  in  the  time  of  Stephen  and  Henry  III., 
the  frequent  presence  of  the  court  and  the 
energy  of  her  prince-bishops  had  made  Win- 
chester a  centre  of  religious  and  literary  activity. 
And,  although  after  the  death  of  Henry  HI., 
who  throughout  his  long  life  remained  faithful 
to  his  native  city,  royal  visits  became  few  and 
far  between,  and  the  old  capital  lost  something 
of  its  brilliancy,  there  was  still  much  to  attract 
strangers  and  strike  the  imagination  of  the  way- 
farer who  entered  her  gates  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  Few  mediaeval  cities  could  boast  founda- 
tions of  equal  size  and  splendour.  There  was 
the  strong  castle  of  Wolvesey,  where  the  bishops 
reigned  in  state,  and  the  royal  palace  by  the 
West  gate,  built  by  King  Henry  HI.,  with  the 
fair  Gothic  hall  which  he  had  decorated  so 
lavishly.  There  was  the  Hospital  of  St.  Cross, 
founded  by  the  warrior-bishop,  Henry  de  Blois, 
and  the  new  College  of  St.  Mary,  which  William 
of  Wykeham,  the  great  master-builder,  had  reared 
in  the  meadows  known  as  the  Greenery,  or  pro- 
menade of  the  monks  of  St.  Swithun.     Another 


T 


W  1\C1I],.-^TLR    CAIHI'.IJRAL,    SOUTH    AISLE    OF    CIH)11<. 


■*-■ 


Jk 


[p-  25 


ST.    SWITHUN  25 

venerable   hospital,   that   of  St.   John's,  claimed 
to  have  been  founded  by  Birinus,  and  on  Morne 
Hill,  just  outside  the  East  gate,  stood  a  hospital 
for   lepers,    dedicated    to   St.    Mary    Magdalene. 
There,  conspicuous  among  a  crowd  of  religious 
houses  by  their  wealth  and  antiquity,   were  the 
two  great  Benedictine  communities  of  St.  Swithun 
and    Hyde.      And    there,    too,    was    the    grand 
Norman  church  which  the  Conqueror's  kinsman, 
Bishop   Walkelin,    had    raised    on    the   ruins   of 
Ethelwold's  Minster,  with  its  low  massive  tower 
and  noble  transepts,  and  the  long  nave  roofed  in 
with  solid  trees   of  oak  cut  down   in   Hempage 
Wood.     Three  centuries  later,  William  of  Wyke- 
ham  transformed  the  nave  after  the  latest  fashion 
of  architecture,  cut  through  the  old  Norman  work, 
carried  up  the  piers  to  a  lofty  height,  and  replaced 
the  flat  wooden  roof  by  fine  stone  groining.     But 
the    Norman    tower    and    transepts    of    Bishop 
Walkelin's  church  still  remain  to-day  almost  un- 
changed. 

So  great  was  the  concourse  of  pilgrims  to 
St.  Swithun's  shrine  in  the  early  part  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  that  Bishop  Godfrey  Lucy  enlarged 


26  WINCHESTER   TO   ALTON 

the  eastward  portion  of  the  church,  and  built,  as 
it  were,  another  church,  with  nave,  aisles,  and 
Lady  Chapel  of  its  own,  under  the  same  roof. 
The  monks  had  no  great  love  for  the  lower  class 
of  pilgrims  who  thronged  their  doors,  and  took 
good  care  to  keep  them  out  of  the  conventual 
precincts.  They  were  only  allowed  to  enter  the 
Minster  by  a  doorway  in  the  north  transept,  and, 
once  they  had  visited  the  shrine  and  duly  made 
their  offerings,  they  were  jealously  excluded  from 
the  rest  of  the  church  by  those  fine  ironwork 
gates  still  preserved  in  the  Cathedral,  and  said 
to  be  the  oldest  specimen  of  the  kind  in  England. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  century,  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  I.,  the  fine  old  building  still  known 
as  the  Strangers'  Hall  was  built  by  the  monks  of 
St.  Swithun  at  their  convent  gate,  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  poorer  pilgrims.  Here  they  found 
food  and  shelter  for  the  night.  They  slept,  ate 
their  meals,  and  drank  their  ale,  and  made  merry 
round  one  big  central  fire.  The  hall  is  now 
divided,  and  is  partly  used  as  the  Dean's  stable, 
partly  enclosed  in  a  Canon's  house,  but  traces  of 
rudely  carved  heads,  a  bearded  king,  and  a  nun's 


^ 


•      loMrim- 


H 

CO 

m 
o 
2; 


a 

CJ 
H 

OS 
> 

W 

H 

O 


28  WINCHESTER   TO   ALTON 

face  are  still  visible  on  the  massive  timbers  of 
the  vaulted  roof,  blackened  with  the  smoke  of 
bygone  ages.  In  the  morning  the  same  pilgrims 
would  wend  their  way  to  the  doors  of  the  Prior's 
lodging,  and  standing  under  the  three  beautiful 
pointed  arches  which  form  the  entrance  to  the 
present  Deanery,  would  there  receive  alms  in 
money  and  fragments  of  bread  and  meat  to  help 
them  on  their  journey. 

The  route  which  they  took  on  leaving  Win- 
chester is  uncertain.  It  is  not  till  we  approach 
Alton  that  we  find  the  first  traces  of  the  Pilgrims' 
Way,  but  in  all  probability  they  followed  the 
Roman  road  which  still  leads  to  Silchester  and 
London  along  the  valley  of  the  river  Itchen. 
Immediately  outside  the  city  gates  they  would 
find  themselves  before  another  stately  pile  of  con- 
ventual buildings,  the  great  Abbey  of  Hyde.  This 
famous  Benedictine  house,  founded  by  Alfred,  and 
long  known  as  the  New  Minster,  was  first  re- 
moved from  its  original  site  near  the  Cathedral 
in  the  twelfth  century.  Finding  their  house  damp 
and  unhealthy,  and  feeling  themselves  cramped 
in  the  narrow  space  close  to  the  rival  monastery 


p.  28] 


KING  S    GATE,    WINCHESTER,     FROM    THE   CLOSE. 


SACRILEGE  29 

of  St.  Swithun,  the  monks  obtained  a  charter 
from  Henry  I.  giving  them  leave  to  settle  out- 
side the  North  gate.  In  the  year  mo,  they 
moved  to  their  new  home,  bearing  with  them 
the  wonder-working  shrine  of  St.  Josse,  the  great 
silver  cross  given  to  the  New  Minster  by  Cnut, 
and  a  yet  more  precious  relic,  the  bones  of  Alfred 
the  Great.  Here  in  the  green  meadows  on  the 
banks  of  the  Itchen  they  reared  the  walls  of  their 
new  convent  and  the  magnificent  church  which, 
after  being  in  the  next  reign  burnt  to  the  ground 
by  fire-balls  from  Henry  of  Blois'  Castle  at 
Wolvesey,  rose  again  from  the  flames  fairer  and 
richer  than  before.  Here  it  stood  till  the  Disso- 
lution, when  Thomas  Wriothesley,  Cromwell's 
Commissioner,  stripped  the  shrine  of  its  treasures, 
carried  off  the  gold  and  jewels,  and  pulled  down 
the  abbey  walls  to  use  the  stone  in  the  building 
of  his  own  great  house  at  Stratton.  "  We  in- 
tend," he  wrote  to  his  master,  after  describing 
the  riches  of  gold  and  silver  plate,  the  crosses 
studded  with  pearls,  chalices,  and  emeralds  on 
which  he  had  lain  sacrilegious  hands,  "  both  at 
Hyde  and  St.  Mary  to  sweep  away  all  the  rotten 


30  WINCHESTER   TO    ALTON 

bones  that  be  called  relics  ;  which  we  may  not 
omit,  lest  it  be  thought  we  came  more  for  the 
treasure  than  for  the  avoiding  of  the  abomination 
of  idolatry."  Considerable  fragments  of  the  build- 
ing still  remained.  In  Milner's  time  the  ruins 
covered  the  whole  meadow,  but  towards  the  end 
of  the  last  century  the  city  authorities  fixed 
on  the  spot  as  the  site  of  a  new  bridewell,  and 
all  that  was  left  of  the  once  famous  Abbey  was 
then  destroyed.  The  tombs  of  the  dead  were 
rifled.  At  every  stroke  of  the  spade  some  ancient 
sepulchre  was  violated,  stone  cofiins  containing 
chalices,  croziers,  rings,  were  broken  open  and 
bones  scattered  abroad.  Then  the  ashes  of  the 
noblest  of  our  kings  were  blown  to  the  winds, 
and  the  resting-place  of  Alfred  remains  to  this 
day  unknown.  A  stone  marked  wath  the  w^ords, 
-Alfred  Rex,  DCCCLXXXL,  was  carried  off  by 
a  passing  stranger,  and  is  now  to  be  seen  at 
Corby  Castle,  in  Cumberland.  To-day  an  old 
gateway  near  the  church  of  St.  Bartholomew  and 
some  fragments  of  the  monastery  wall  are  the 
only  remains  of  Alfred's  new  Minster. 

From    this    spot    an    ancient    causeway,    now 


THE    MONKS     WALK  3 1 

commonly  known  as  the  Nuns'  Walk,  but  which 
in  the  last  century  bore  the  more  correct  title  of 
the  Monks'  Walk,  leads  alongside  of  a  stream 
which  supplied  Hyde  Abbey  with  water,  for  a 
mile  and  a  half  up  the  valley  to  Headbourne^ 
Worthy.  The  path  is  cool  and  shady,  planted 
with  a  double  row  of  tall  elms,  and  as  we  look 
back  we  have  beautiful  views  of  the  venerable 
city  and  the  great  Cathedral  sleeping  in  the  quiet 
hollow,  dreaming  of  all  its  mighty  past.  Above, 
scarred  with  the  marks  of  a  deep  railway  cutting, 
and  built  over  with  new  houses,  is  St.  Giles'  Hill, 
where  during  many  centuries  the  famous  fair  was 
held  each  September.  Foreign  pilgrims  would 
gaze  with  interest  on  the  scene  of  that  yearly 
event,  which  had  attained  a  world-wide  fame,  and 
attracted  merchants  from  all  parts  of  France, 
Flanders,  and  Italy.  The  green  hill-side  from 
which  we  look  down  on  the  streets  and  towers 
of  Winchester  presented  a  lively  spectacle  during 
that  fortnight.  The  stalls  were  arranged  in  long 
rows  and  called  after  the  nationality  of  the 
vendors  of  the  goods  they  sold.     There  was  the 

^  Hyde  Bourne. 


32  WINCHESTER   TO    ALTON 

Street  of  Caen,  of  Limoges,  of  the  Flemings,  of 
the  Genoese,  the  Drapery,  the  Goldsmiths'  Stall, 
the  Spicery,  held  by  the  monks  of  St.  Swithun, 
who  drove  a  brisk  trade  in  furs  and  groceries  on 
these  occasions.  All  shops  in  the  city  and  for 
seven  leagues  round  were  closed  during  the  fair, 
and  local  trade  was  entirely  suspended.  The 
mayor  handed  over  the  keys  of  the  city  for  the 
time  being  to  the  bishop,  who  had  large  profits 
from  the  tolls  and  had  stalls  at  the  fair  himself, 
while  smaller  portions  went  to  the  abbeys,  and 
thirty  marks  a  year  were  paid  to  St.  Swithun's 
for  the  repair  of  the  great  church.  The  Red  King 
first  granted  his  kinsman,  Bishop  Walkelin,  the 
tolls  of  this  three  days'  fair  at  St.  Giles'  feast, 
which  privilege  was  afterwards  extended  to  a 
period  of  sixteen  days  by  Henry  III.  The  great 
fair  lasted  until  modern  times,  but  in  due  course 
was  removed  from  St.  Giles'  Hill  into  the  city 
itself.  "  As  the  city  grew  stronger  and  the  fair 
weaker,"  writes  Dean  Kitchin,  **  it  slid  down  St. 
Giles'  Hill  and  entered  the  town,  where  its  noisy 
ghost  still  holds  revel  once  a  year." 

Leaving  these  historic  memories  behind  us  we 


HT^OVi    3HT    MOili    JAMCl.'fHTAO    ;i3T8aH0KIV/ 


-.  .  : :.  of  Caen. 

.   y. 

,  the  Go 

■  ■  -    '•     '   •    ..eld  by  the 

moi.r 

:  a  brisk  trade  in  furs  a 

ccasions.     All  shops 

d   tor 

^ao"ues               vere 

closed  during 

the  fair, 

.......    .^^...    .rade  was    _... 

-..^jnded.      Thp 

mayor  handed  ^■^-^"  ^'      ■ 

eys  of  the    -'^ 

'   for    iul: 

time  being 

1          T 

;  pro^ 

from  the 

wl . 

tnd 

thl^*^^' Winchester  CATHEDRAL  from  the  nort^ 

hun's 

fo^ 

Y  -  . 

fii 

a,  the 

tolls    *>: 

.ist, 

.....    ,           "'vilr; 

to   a 

period 

-ic  great 

fair  las  tec 

i  course 

was  removt 

.1  city 

its 

IV  a.v 

air 

weakv^x,    v'/ri'^-^ 

own  St. 

'""'    '  Hili  ana  cm 

a,  wiicrc 

its  noisy 

t  still  holds 

year.' 

Leaving  these  h 

ries  behii 

nd  us  we 

HEADBOURNE    WORTHY  33 

follow  the  Monks'  Walk  until  we  reach  Head- 
bourne  Worthy,  the  first  of  a  group  of  villages 
granted  by  Egbert,  in  825,  to  St.  Swithun's  Priory, 
and  bearing  this  quaint  name,  derived  from  the 
Saxon  woerth — a  homestead.  The  church  here 
dates  from  Saxon  times,  and  claims  to  have  been 
founded  by  St.  Wilfred.  The  rude  west  doorway 
and  chancel  arch  are  said  to  belong  to  Edward 
the  Confessors  time.  Over  the  west  archway, 
which  now  leads  into  a  fifteenth-century  chapel, 
is  a  fine  sculptured  bas-relief  larger  than  life,  re- 
presenting the  Crucifixion  and  the  Maries,  which 
probably  originally  adorned  the  exterior  of  the 
church.  But  the  most  interesting  thing  in  the 
church  is  the  brass  to  John  Kent,  a  Winchester 
scholar,  who  died  in  1434.  The  boy  wears  his 
college  gown  and  his  hair  is  closely  cut,  while  a 
scroll  comes  out  of  his  lips  bearing  the  words  : 
"  Misericordiam  Dni  inetum  cantabo."  Next  we 
reach  Kingsworthy,  so  called  because  it  was  once 
Crown  property,  a  pretty  little  village  with  low 
square  ivy-grown  church-tower  and  lych-gate, 
and  a  charming  old-fashioned  inn  standing  a  little 
back  from  the  road. 
3 


34 


WINCHESTER   TO   ALTON 


.:>j;55i-'i;j!  .Site  ■  lift  -ja''^! 


>.t 


Marltir    Wortfi^   ^ 


THATCHED   COTTAGE,    MARTYR   WORTHY. 

The  third  of  the  Worthys,  Abbotsworthy,  is 
now  united  to  Kingsworthy.  Passing  through  its 
little  street  of  houses,  a  mile  farther  on  we  reach 
Martyrsworthy,  a  still  smaller  village  with  another 
old  Norman  church  and  low  thatched  cottages, 
picturesquely  placed  near  the  banks  of  the  river, 
which  is  here  crossed  by  a  wooden  foot-bridge. 
But  all  this  part  of  the  Itchen  valley  has  the 
same  charm.  Everywhere  we  find  the  same  old 
farmhouses  with    mullioned   windows   and    sun- 


THE    ITCHEN    VALLEY  35 

dials  and  yew  trees,  the  same  straggling  roofs 
brilliant  with  yellow  lichen,  and  the  same  cottages 
and  gardens  gay  with  lilies  and  phloxes,  the  same 
green  lanes  shaded  with  tall  elms  and  poplars, 
the  same  low  chalk  hills  and  wooded  distances 
closing  in  the  valley,  and  below  the  bright  river 
winding  its  way  through  the  cool  meadows. 
"  The  Itchen — the  beautiful  Itchen  valley,"  ex- 
claims Cobbett,  as  he  rides  along  this  vale  of 
meadows.  "  There  are  few  spots  in  England 
more  fertile,  or  more  pleasant,  none,  I  believe, 
more  healthy.  The  fertility  of  this  vale  and  of 
the  surrounding  country  is  best  proved  by  the 
fact  that,  besides  the  town  of  Alresford  and  that 
of  Southampton,  there  are  seventeen  villages,  each 
having  its  parish  church,  upon  its  borders. 
When  we  consider  these  things,  we  are  not  sur- 
prised that  a  spot  situated  about  half-way  down 
this  vale  should  have  been  chosen  for  the  build- 
ing of  a  city,  or  that  that  city  should  have  been 
for  a  great  number  of  years  the  place  of  residence 
for  the  kings  of  England." 

Towards   Itchen    Abbas — of  the   Abbot — the 
valley  opens,  and  we  see  the  noble  avenues  and 


36 


WINCHESTER    TO   ALTON 


"t^'!^^? 


5?» 


CaU^<t    ■:*.«  r,Wtc»„nAlU.  M      ..    ^.'■-.'■!fe-?^"V%'/j^,^/' 


CHILLAND    FARM,    NEAR   ITCHEN    ABBAS. 

spreading  beeches  of  Avington  Park,  long  the 
property  of  the  Dukes  of  Chandos,  and  often 
visited  by  Charles  II.  while  Wren  was  building 
his  red-brick  palace  at  Winchester.  Here  the 
Merry  Monarch  feasted  his  friends  in  a  banquet- 
ing-hall  that  is  now  a  greenhouse,  and  a  room 
in  the  old  house  bore  the  name  of  Nell  Gwynne's 
closet.  In  those  days  it  was  the  residence  of  the 
notorious  Lady  Shrewsbury,  afterwards  the  wife 
of  George  Brydges,  a  member  of  the  Chandos 


ITCHEN    STOKE  37 

family,  the  lady  whose  first  husband,  Francis, 
Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  was  slain  fighting  in  a  duel 
with  George  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  while 
the  Countess  herself,  disguised  as  a  page,  held 
her  lover's  horse. 

The  river  winds  through  the  park,  and  between 
the  over-arching  boughs  of  the  forest  trees  we 
catch  lovely  glimpses  of  wood  and  water.  In 
the  opposite  direction,  but  also  close  to  Itchen 
Abbas,  is  another  well-known  seat.  Lord  Ash- 
burton's  famous  Grange,  often  visited  by  Carlyle. 
Here  the  dark  tints  of  yew  and  fir  mingle  with 
the  bright  hues  of  lime  and  beech  and  silver 
birch  on  the  banks  of  a  clear  lake,  and  long 
grassy  glades  lead  up  to  wild  gorse-grown 
slopes  of  open  down.  Still  following  the  river 
banks  we  reach  Itchen  Stoke,  another  pictur- 
esque village  with  timbered  cottages  and  mossy 
roofs.  A  little  modern  church,  with  high-pitched 
roof  and  lancet  windows  having  a  curiously 
foreign  air,  stands  among  the  tall  pines  on  a 
steep  bank  above  the  stream.  But  here  our 
pleasant  journey  along  the  fair  Itchen  valley 
comes  to  an  end,  and,  leaving  the  river-side, 
3* 


38  WINCHESTER    TO   ALTON 

we    climb   the   hilly   road   which    leads    us    into 
Alresford. 

New  Alresford,  a  clean,  bright  little  town, 
with  broad  street,  planted  with  rows  of  trees, 
boasts  an  antiquity  which  belies  its  name,  and 
has  been  a  market-town  and  borough  from  time 
immemorial.  Like  its  yet  more  venerable  neigh- 
bour, Old  Alresford,  it  was  given  by  a  king  of 
the  West  Saxons  to  the  prior  and  monks  of 
St.  Swithun  at  Winchester,  and  formed  part 
of  the  vast  possessions  of  the  monastery  at  the 
Conquest.  Both  places  took  their  name  from 
their  situation  on  a  ford  of  the  Arle  or  Aire 
river,  a  considerable  stream  which  joins  the  Itchen 
below  Avington,  and  is  called  by  Leland  the 
Alresford  river.  In  the  eleventh  century  New 
Alresford  had  fallen  into  decay,  and  probably 
owes  its  present  existence  to  Bishop  Godfrey 
Lucy,  who  rebuilt  the  town,  and  obtained  a 
charter  from  King  John  restoring  the  market, 
which  had  fallen  into  disuse.  At  the  same  time 
he  gave  the  town  the  name  of  New  Market,  but 
the  older  one  survived,  and  the  Bishop's  new 
title   was   never  generally    adopted.     The   same 


NEW    ALRESFORD  39 

energetic  prelate  bestowed  a  great  deal  of  care 
and  considerable  attention  on  the  water  supply  of 
Winchester,  and  made  the  Itchen  navigable  all 
the  way  from  Southampton  to  Alresford. 

In  recognition  of  this  important  service,  Bishop 
Lucy  received  from  King  John  the  right  of  levy- 
ing toll  on  all  leather,  hides,  and  other  goods 
which  entered  Winchester  by  the  river  Itchen 
through  this  canal,  a  right  which  descended  to 
his  successors  in  the  see.  South-west  of  the 
town  is  the  large  pond  or  reservoir  which  he 
made  to  supply  the  waters  of  the  Itchen.  This 
lake,  which  still  covers  about  sixty  acres,  is  a 
well-known  haunt  of  moor-hens  and  other  water- 
fowl, and  the  flags  and  bulrushes  which  fringe 
its  banks  make  it  a  favourable  resort  of  artists. 
Old  Alresford  itself,  with  its  gay  flower-gardens, 
tall  elms,  pretty  old  thatched  cottages  grouped 
round  the  village  green,  may  well  supply  them 
with  more  than  one  subject  for  pen  and  pencil. 

New  Alresford  was  at  one  time  a  flourishing 
centre  of  the  cloth  trade,  in  which  the  Winchester 
merchants  drove  so  brisk  a  trade  at  St.  Giles' 
Fair.      The   manufacture   of  woollen  cloth   was 


40 


WINCHESTER    TO    ALTON 


NEW   ALRESFORD. 


carried  on  till  quite  recent  times,  and  Dean  Kitchin 
tells  us  that  there  are  old  men  still  living  who 
remember  driving  with  their  fathers  to  the  fair 
at  Winchester  on  St.  Giles'  day,  to  buy  a  roll 
of  blue  cloth  to  provide  the  family  suits  for  the 
year.  But  New  Alresford  shared  the  decline  as 
it  had  shared  the  prosperity  of  its  more  important 
neighbour,  and  suffered  even  more  severely  than 
Winchester  in   the  Civil  Wars,  when  the  town 


TICHBORNE    PARK  4I 

was  almost  entirely  burnt  down  by  Lord  Hopton's 
troops  after  their  defeat  in  Cheriton  fight.  The 
scene  of  that  hard-fought  battle,  which  gave 
Winchester  into  Waller's  hands  and  ruined  the 
King's  cause  in  the  West  of  England,  lies  a  few 
miles  to  the  south  of  Alresford.  Half-way  be- 
tween the  two  is  Tichborne  Park,  the  seat  of  a 
family  which  has  owned  this  estate  from  the  days 
of  Harold,  and  which  took  its  name  from  the 
stream  flowing  through  the  parish,  and  called  the 
Ticceborne  in  Anglo-Saxon  records.  In  modern 
times  a  well-known  case  has  given  the  name  of 
Tichborne  an  unenviable  notoriety,  but  members 
of  this  ancient  house  have  been  illustrious  at  all 
periods  of  our  history,  and  the  legend  of  the 
Tichborne  Dole  so  long  associated  with  the  spot 
deserves  to  be  remembered.  In  the  reign  of 
Henry  I.,  Isabella,  the  wife  of  Sir  Roger  Tich- 
borne, a  lady  whose  long  life  had  been  spent  in 
deeds  of  mercy,  prayed  her  husband  as  she  lay 
dying  to  grant  her  as  much  land  as  would  enable 
her  to  leave  a  dole  of  bread  for  all  who  asked 
alms  at  the  gates  of  Tichborne  on  each  succeeding 
Lady  Day.     Sir  Roger  was  a  knight  of  sterner 


42  WINCHESTER    TO    ALTON 

stuff,  and  seizing  a  flaming  brand  from  the  hearth 
he  told  his  wife  jestingly  that  she  might  have 
as  much  land  as  she  could  herself  walk  over 
before  the  burning  torch  went  out.  Upon  which 
the  sick  lady  caused  herself  to  be  borne  from  her 
bed  to  a  piece  of  ground  within  the  manor,  and 
crawled  on  her  knees  and  hands  until  she  had 
encircled  twenty-three  acres.  The  actual  plot  of 
ground  still  bears  the  name  of  Lady  Tichborne's 
Crawles,  and  there  was  an  old  prophecy  which 
said  that  the  house  of  Tichborne  would  only  last 
as  long  as  the  dying  bequest  of  Isabella  was 
carried  out.  During  the  next  six  centuries,  nine- 
teen hundred  small  loaves  were  regularly  dis- 
tributed to  the  poor  at  the  gates  on  Lady  Day, 
and  a  miraculous  virtue  was  supposed  to  belong 
to  bread  thus  bestowed.  The  custom  was  only 
abandoned  a  hundred  years  ago,  owing  to  the 
number  of  idlers  and  bad  characters  which  it 
brought  into  the  neighbourhood,  and  a  sum  of 
money  equal  in  amount  to  the  Dole  is  given  to 
the  poor  of  the  parish  in  its  stead. 

Whether   any    of    our    Canterbury    pilgrims 
stopped  in  their  course  to  avail  themselves  of  the 


PILGRIMS     PLACE  43 

Tichborne  Dole  we  cannot  say,  but  there  was 
a  manor-house  of  the  Bishops  of  Winchester  at 
Bishop  Sutton,  near  Alresford,  where  they  would 
no  doubt  find  food  and  shelter.  Nothing  now 
remains  of  the  episcopal  palace,  and  no  trace  of 
its  precincts  is  preserved  but  the  site  of  the 
bishop's  kennels. 

After  crossing  the  river  at  Alresford  the  pil- 
grims turned  north-east,  and  according  to  an 
old  tradition  their  road  led  them  through  the 
parish  of  Ropley,  a  neighbouring  village  where 
Roman  remains  have  been  discovered.  A  little 
further  on  the  same  track,  close  to  Rotherfield 
Park,  where  the  modern  mansion  of  Pelham  now 
stands,  was  an  ancient  house  which  bore  the 
name  of  Pilgrims'  Place,  and  is  indicated  as  such 
in  old  maps. 


THE   HOG  S   BACK. 


CHAPTER   III 


ALTON    TO   COMPTON 

A  FEW  miles  to  the  right  of  the  road  is  a  place 
which  no  pilgrim  of  modern  times  can  leave  un- 
visited — Selborne,  White's  Selborne,  the  home  of 
the  gentle  naturalist  whose  memory  haunts  these 
rural  scenes.  Here  he  lived  in  the  picturesque 
house  overgrown  with  creepers,  with  the  sunny 
garden  and  dial  at  the  back,  and  the  great  spread- 
ing oak  where  he  loved  to  study  the  ways  of  the 
owls,  and  the  juniper  tree,  which,  to  his  joy, 
survived  the  Siberian  winter  of  1776.     And  here 

44 


SELBORNE  45 

he  died,  and  lies  buried  in  the  quiet  churchyard 
in  the  shade  of  the  old  yew  tree  where  he  so  often 
stood  to  watch  his  favourite  birds.  Not  a  stone 
but  what  speaks  of  him,  not  a  turn  in  the  village 
street  but  has  its  tale  to  tell.  The  play-stow,  or 
village  green,  which  Adam  de  Gurdon  granted 
to  the  Augustinian  Canons  of  Selborne  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  where  the  prior  held  his 
market  of  old,  and  where  young  and  old  met  on 
summer  evenings  under  the  big  oak,  and  **  sat  in 
quiet  debate"  or  ''frolicked  and  danced"  before 
him  ;  the  farmhouse  which  now  marks  the  site 
of  the  ancient  Priory  itself,  founded  by  Peter  de 
Rupibus,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  in  1232 — he  has 
described  them  all.  How  the  good  Canons  grew 
lazy  and  secular  in  their  ways  after  a  time,  how 
William  of  Wykeham  found  certain  of  them  pro- 
fessed hunters  and  sportsmen,  and  tried  in  vain 
to  reform  them,  and  how  the  estates  were  finally 
handed  over  to  the  new  college  of  St.  Mary 
Magdalene  at  Oxford,  by  its  founder,  William 
of  Waynflete — Gilbert  White  has  already  told  us. 
The  Hanger,  with  its  wooded  slopes,  rising  from 
the  back  of  his  garden,  and  that  "  noble  chalk 


46  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

promontory"  of  Nore  Hill,  planted  with  the 
beeches  which  he  called  the  most  lovely  of  all 
forest  trees,  how  familiar  they  seem  to  us  !  Still 
the  swifts  wheel  to  and  fro  round  the  low  church- 
tower,  and  the  crickets  chirp  in  the  long  grass, 
and  the  white  owl  is  heard  at  night,  just  as  when 
he  used  to  linger  under  the  old  walls  and  watch 
their  manners  with  infinite  care  and  love. 

One  of  the  "  rocky  hollow  lanes  "  which  lead 
towards  Alton  will  take  us  back  into  the  road,  and 
bring  us  to  Chawton,  a  village  about  a  mile  from 
that  town.  The  fine  Elizabethan  manor-house 
at  the  foot  of  the  green  knoll,  and  the  grey  church 
peeping  out  of  the  trees  close  by,  have  been  for 
centuries  the  home  and  burial-place  of  the  Knights. 
On  the  south  side  of  the  chancel  a  black  and  white 
marble  monument  records  the  memory  of  that 
gallant  cavalier.  Sir  Richard  Knight,  who  risked 
life  and  fortune  in  the  Royal  cause,  and  was 
invested  with  the  Order  of  the  Royal  Oak  by 
Charles  II.  after  the  Restoration.  But  it  is  as 
the  place  where  Jane  Austen,  in  George  Eliot's 
opinion,  "  the  greatest  artist  that  has  ever  written," 
composed  her  novels,  that  Chawton  is  memorable. 


< 

< 


48  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

The  cottage  where  she  lived  is  stilL  standing  a 
few  hundred  yards  from  the  "great  house,"  which 
was  the  home  of  the  brother  and  nieces  to  whom 
she  was  so  fondly  attached.  She  and  her  sister, 
Cassandra,  settled  there  in  1809,  and  remained 
there  until  May,  181 7,  when  they  moved  to  the 
corner  house  of  College  Street,  Winchester,  where 
three  months  afterwards  she  died.  During  the 
eight  years  spent  in  this  quiet  home,  Jane 
Austen  attained  the  height  of  her  powers  and 
wrote  her  most  famous  novels,  those  works  which 
she  herself  said  cost  her  so  little,  and  which  in 
Tennyson's  words  have  given  her  a  place  in 
English  literature  "next  to  Shakespeare."  "Sense 
and  Sensibility,"  her  first  novel,  was  published 
two  years  after  the  move  to  Chawton.  "  Per- 
suasion," the  last  and  most  finished  of  the  im- 
mortal series,  was  only  written  in  1816,  a  year 
before  her  death.  Seldom,  indeed,  has  so  great 
a  novelist  led  so  retired  an  existence.  The  life 
at  Chawton,  so  smooth  in  its  even  flow,  with  the 
daily  round  of  small  excitements  and  quiet  plea- 
sures, the  visits  to  the  "  great  house,"  and  walks 
with  her  nieces  in  the  woods,  the  shopping  ex- 


JANE    AUSTEN  49 

peditions  to  Alton,  the  talk  about  new  bonnets 
and  gowns,  and  the  latest  news  as  to  the  births, 
deaths,  and  marriages  of  the  numerous  relatives 
in  Kent  and  Hampshire,  are  faithfully  reflected  in 
those  pleasant  letters  of  Jane  Austen,  which  her 
great-nephew,  Lord  Brabourne,  gave  to  the  world. 
There  is  a  good  deal  about  her  flowers,  her 
chickens,  her  niece's  love  affairs,  the  fancy  work 
on  which  she  is  engaged,  the  improvements  in 
the  house  and  garden — **  You  cannot  imagine," 
she  writes  on  one  occasion,  "  it  is  not  in  human 
nature  to  imagine,  what  a  nice  walk  we  have 
round  the  orchard  !  " — but  very  little  indeed  about 
her  books.  Almost  the  only  allusion  we  find  to 
one  of  her  characters  is  in  1816,  when  she  writes 
to  Fanny  Knight  of  Anne  Elliot  in  **  Persuasion." 
**  You  may  perhaps  like  the  heroine,  as  she  is 
almost  too  good  for  me  ! "  Anything  like  fame 
or  publicity  was  positively  distasteful  to  her. 
She  owns  to  feeling  absolutely  terrified  when  a 
lady  in  town  asked  to  be  introduced  to  her,  and 
then  adds  laughingly,  **  If  I  am  a  wild  beast  I 
cannot  help  it,  it  is  not  my  fault !  " 

Curiously  enough,  the  Pilgrims'  Way,  in  the 
4 


50  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

later  course  of  its  path,  brings  us  to  Godmersham, 
that  other  and  finer  home  of  the  Knights  on  the 
Kentish  Downs,  a  place  also  associated  with  Jane 
Austen's  life  and  letters,  where  she  spent  many 
pleasant  hours  in  the  midst  of  her  family,  enjoy- 
ing the  beauty  of  the  spot  and  its  cheerful 
surroundings.  But  Chawton  retains  the  supre- 
macy as  her  own  home,  and  as  the  scene  of 
those  literary  labours  that  were  cut  short,  alas  ! 
too  soon.  "  What  a  pity,"  Sir  Walter  Scott  ex- 
claimed, after  reading  a  book  of  hers,  *'  what  a 
pity  such  a  gifted  creature  died  so  early !  " 

From  Chawton  it  is  a  short  mile  to  Alton, 
famous  for  its  breweries  and  hop  gardens,  and 
its  church  door,  riddled  with  the  bullets  of  the 
Roundheads.  Our  way  now  leads  us  through  the 
woods  of  Alice  Holt — Aisholt — the  Ash  wood  ; 
like  Woolmer,  a  royal  forest  from  Saxon  times. 
Alice  Holt  was  renowned  for  the  abundance  of 
its  fallow  deer,  which  made  it  a  favourite  hunting 
ground  with  the  Plantagenet  kings,  and  on  one 
occasion  Edward  H.,  it  is  said,  gave  one  of  his 
scullions,  Morris  Ken,  the  sum  of  twenty  shillings 
because  he  fell  from  his  horse  so  often  out  hunt- 


jdUOH  v:otwah:) 


rs,  where  she 
Ist  of  her  fam. 
he   beauty  of    the    spo'  1    ^'t*^    rheerful 

foundings.     But  Chawton  iuia  .t-  ^upre- 

and    as   tne   scene   of 
shor 

t  ex- 

CilAWTON    HOUSE 


the 

wooa  , 
on  ti 
nee  of 

■  o 

^\  iiii  -le 

■^  '  oi  his 

•ns,  >  :s 

.  I- 


ALICE    HOLT  $1 

ing,  "  which  made  the  king  laugh  exceedingly." 
Here,  too,  after  the  battle  of  Evesham,  Edward, 
Prince  of  Wales,  defeated  Adam  de  Gurdon,  one 
of  Simon  de  Montfort's  chief  followers.  He  is 
said  to  have  challenged  the  rebel  baron  to  a  single 
combat,  in  which  Gurdon  was  wounded  and  made 
prisoner,  but  the  victor  spared  his  life  and  after- 
wards obtained  a  royal  pardon  for  his  vanquished 
foe.  A  wild  rugged  tract  of  country,  Alice  Holt 
was  a  chosen  haunt  of  robbers  and  outlaws,  the 
terror  of  the  wealthy  London  merchants  who 
journeyed  to  St.  Giles'  Fair  at  Winchester,  and 
in  the  fourteenth  century  the  wardens  of  the 
fair  kept  five  mounted  serjeants-at-arms  in  the 
forest  near  Alton,  for  their  protection  at  that 
season. 

Soon  after  leaving  Alton  the  pilgrims  would 
catch  their  first  sight  of  the  river  Wey,  which 
rises  close  to  the  town.  Along  the  banks  of  this 
stream,  flowing  as  it  does  through  some  of  the 
loveliest  Surrey  scenery,  their  road  was  now  to 
lie,  and  not  until  they  crossed  St.  Katherine's 
ferry,  at  Guildford,  were  they  finally  to  lose  sight 
of  its   waters.     The  river  itself,  more  than  one 


52  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

writer  has  suggested,  may  owe  its  name  to  this 
circumstance,  and  have  been  originally  called  the 
Way  river  from  the  ancient  road  which  followed 
the  early  part  of  its  course. 

Leaving  Froyle  Park,  Sir  Hubert  Miller's  fine 
Jacobean  house,  on  our  left,  we  pass  Bentley 
Station,  and,  still  following  the  river,  join  the 
Portsmouth  road  just  before  entering  Farnham. 
This  town,  which  takes  its  name  from  the 
commons  overgrown  with  fern  and  heather  still 
to  be  seen  in  the  neighbourhood  on  the  Surrey 
side,  is  now  surrounded  with  hop  gardens.  It 
was  among  the  earliest  possessions  of  the  Bishops 
of  Winchester,  and  formed  part  of  the  land  granted 
to  St.  Swithun,  in  860,  by  Alfred's  elder  brother, 
Ethelbald,  King  of  Wessex.  The  Castle-palace, 
which  still  looks  proudly  down  on  the  streets  of 
the  little  town,  was  first  built  by  that  magnificent 
prelate,  Henry  of  Blois,  but  little  of  the  original 
building  now  remains  except  the  offices,  where 
some  round  Norman  pillars  may  still  be  seen. 
Farnham  Castle  was  partly  destroyed  by  Henry  H I . 
during  his  wars  with  the  barons,  and  suffered 
greatly  at  the  hands  of  the  rebels   in   the  time 


FARNHAM   CASTLE 


53 


C«_-.tlis  M         =£=^i-. 


FARNHAM   CASTLE. 


of  Charles  I.,  but  was  afterwards  rebuilt  by 
Bishop  Morley.  Queen  Elizabeth  paid  frequent 
visits  here,  and  on  one  occasion,  while  dining  in 
the  great  hall  with  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who 
was  suspected  of  planning  a  marriage  with  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  pleasantly  advised  the  Duke  to 
be  careful  on  what  pillow  he  laid  his  head.  The 
lawn,  with  its  stately  cedars  and  grass-grown 
moat,  deserves  a  visit,  but  the  most  interesting 


* 


54  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

part  of  the  building  is  the  fine  old  keep  with  its 
massive  buttresses  and  thirteenth-century  arches, 
commanding  a  wide  view  over  the  elm  avenues 
of  the  park,  and  the  commons  which  stretch  east- 
ward on  the  Surrey  side.  Prominent  in  the 
foreground  are  the  picturesque  heights  of  Crooks- 
bury,  crowned  with  those  tall  pines  w^hich 
Cobbett  climbed  when  he  was  a  boy,  to  take  the 
nests  of  crows  and  magpies. 

Farnham,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  the 
birthplace  of  this  remarkable  man,  and  it  was  at 
Ash,  a  small  town  at  the  foot  of  the  Hog's  Back, 
that  he  died  in  1835.  All  his  life  long  he  retained 
the  fondest  affection  for  these  scenes  of  his  youth. 
In  1825  he  brought  his  son  Richard,  then  a  boy 
of  eleven,  to  see  the  little  old  house  in  the  street 
where  he  had  lived  with  his  grandmother,  and 
showed  him  the  garden  at  Waverley  where  he 
worked  as  a  lad,  the  tree  near  the  Abbey  from 
which  he  fell  into  the  river  in  a  perilous  attempt 
to  take  a  crow's  nest,  and  the  strawberry  beds 
where  he  gathered  strawberries  for  Sir  Robert 
Rich's  table,  taking  care  to  eat  the  finest !  Among 
these  hills  and  commons,  where  he  followed  the 


WILLIAM   COBBETT 


55 


y;^>A- 


^f'^^ 


^^g/^ 


Wty  frorn  N4/»■la.ni^  Ca'oeT  M 


CROOKSBURY    FROM    NEWLANDS   CORNER. 


hounds  on  foot  at  ten  years  old,  and  rode  across 
country  at  seventy,  we  forget  the  political  aspect 
of  his  life,  his  bitter  invectives  against  the  Poor- 
laws  and  Paper-money,  the  National  Debt  and 
the  System,  and  think  rather  of  his  keen  love  of 
nature  and  delight  in  the  heaths,  the  sandy 
coppices,  and  forests  of  Surrey  and  Hampshire. 
And  now  he  sleeps  in  the  church  of  Farnham, 
where  he  desired  to  be  buried,  in  the  heart  of 
the  wild  scenery  which  he  loved  so  well. 

Just   under  Crooksbury,  that  "grand   scene" 
of  Cobbett's  "exploits,"  lies  Moor  Park,  the  re- 


56  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

treat  of  Sir  William  Temple  in  his  old  age, 
which  seemed  to  him,  to  quote  his  own  words, 
*'  the  sweetest  place,  I  think,  that  I  have  ever  seen 
in  my  life,  either  before  or  since,  at  home  or 
abroad."  There  we  may  still  see  the  gardens 
which  the  statesman  of  the  Triple  Alliance  laid 
out  after  the  fashion  of  those  which  he  re- 
membered in  Holland,  where  he  enjoyed  the 
companionship  of  his  beloved  sister,  Lady  Giffard, 
and  where  his  heart  lies  buried  under  the  sun- 
dial. Here  Swift  lived  as  his  secretary,  and 
learnt  from  King  William  HI.  how  to  cut  aspar- 
agus ;  here  he  wrote  the  "  Tale  of  a  Tub,"  and 
made  love  to  Mrs.  Hester  Johnson,  Lady  Giffard's 
pretty  black-eyed  waiting-maid.  The  memory  of 
that  immortal  love-story  has  not  yet  perished,  and 
the  house  where  she  lived  is  still  known  as  Stella's 
Cottage.  Here,  too,  just  beyond  Moor  Park,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Wey,  are  the  ruins  of  Waverley 
Abbey,  the  first  Cistercian  house  ever  founded  in 
England,  often  described  as  "  le  petit  Citeaux," 
and  the  mother  of  many  other  abbeys. 

The  more  distinguished  pilgrims  who  stopped 
at   Farnham  would    taste  the  hospitality  of  the 


FARNHAM  57 

monks  of  Waverley,  and  Henry  III.  was  on  one 
occasion  their  guest.  The  Abbot  of  Waverley, 
too,  was  a  great  personage  in  these  parts,  and 
his  influence  extended  over  several  parishes 
through  which  the  pilgrims  had  to  pass,  al- 
though the  privileges  which  he  claimed  were 
often  disputed  by  the  Prior  of  Newark,  the  other 
ecclesiastical  magnate  who  reigned  in  this  part 
of  Surrey.  Pilgrims  of  humbler  rank  would  find 
ample  accommodation  in  the  ancient  hostelries  of 
Farnham,  which  was  at  that  time  a  place  of  con- 
siderable importance,  and  returned  two  members 
to  Edward  II. 's  Parliament. 

Their  onward  course  now  lay  along  the  banks 
of  the  Wey  until  they  reached  the  foot  of  the 
narrow,  curiously  shaped  chalk  ridge  known  as  the 
Hog's  Back.  Here,  at  a  place  called  Whiteway 
End,  the  end  of  the  white  chalk  road,  two  roads 
divide.  Both  lead  to  Guildford,  the  one  keeping 
on  the  crest  of  the  ridge,  the  other  along  its 
southern  slope. 

The  upper  road  has  become  an  important 
thoroughfare  in  modern  times,  and  is  now  the 
main  road  from  Farnham  to  Guildford  ;  the  lower 


58  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

is  a  grassy  lane,  not  always  easy  to  follow,  and 
little  used  in  places,  which  leads  through  the 
parishes  of  Scale,  Puttenham,  and  Compton,  the 
bright  little  villages  which  stud  the  sides  of 
the  Hog's  Back.  This  green  woodland  path  under 
the  downs  was  the  ancient  British  and  Roman 
track  along  which  the  Canterbury  pilgrims 
journeyed,  and  which  is  still  in  some  places  spoken 
of  by  the  inhabitants  as  the  Way.  Other  names 
in  local  use  bear  the  same  witness.  Beggar's 
Corner  and  Robber's  or  Roamer's  Moor  are  sup- 
posed to  owe  their  appellations  to  the  pilgrims  : 
while  the  ivy-grown  manor-house  of  Shoelands, 
bearing  the  date  of  1616  on  its  porch,  is  said  to 
take  its  name  from  the  word  "to  shool,"  which  in 
some  dialects  has  the  same  meaning  as  "to  beg." 
Another  trace  of  the  Pilgrimage  is  to  be  found 
in  the  local  fairs  which  are  still  held  in  the  towns 
and  villages  along  the  road,  and  which  were 
fixed  at  those  periods  of  the  year  when  the 
pilgrims  would  be  either  going  to  Canterbury  or 
returning  from  there.  Thus  we  find  that  at 
Guildford  the  chief  fair  took  place  at  Christmas, 
when  the  pilgrims  would  be  on  their  way  to  the 


FAIRS  59 

winter  festival  of  St.  Thomas,  and  was  only 
altered  to  September  in  131 2,  by  which  time  the 
original  day  of  the  Saint's  martyrdom  had  ceased 
to  be  as  popular  as  the  summer  feast.  Again  the 
great  fair  at  Shalford  was  fixed  for  the  Feast  of 
the  Assumption,  the  15th  of  August,  so  as  to  catch 
the  stream  of  pilgrims  which  flowed  back  from 
Canterbury  after  the  Feast  of  the  Translation  in 
July,  and  the  seven  days'  fair  there,  that  went  by 
the  name  of  Becket's  fair.  Fairs  soon  came  to 
be  held  not  only  at  towns  such  as  Farnham, 
Guildford,  and  Shalford,  but  at  the  small  villages 
along  the  Pilgrims'  Road.  There  was  one  in  the 
churchyard  at  Puttenham,  and  another  at  Wan- 
borough,  a  church  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
hill,  which  belonged  to  Waverley  Abbey,  where 
the  offerings  made  by  the  pilgrims  formed  part 
of  the  payments  yearly  received  by  the  Abbot, 
while  a  third  was  held  on  St.  Katharine's  Hill 
during  five  days  in  September. 

Even  the  churches  along  the  road  often  owed 
their  existence  to  the  Pilgrimage.  The  church 
of  Scale  was  built  early  in  the  thirteenth  century 
by  the  Abbots  of  Waverley,  and  that  of  Wan- 


60  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

borough  was  rebuilt  by  the  same  Abbots,  and 
was  again  allowed  to  fall  into  decay  when  the 
days  of  pilgrimages  were  over.  Both  the  sister 
chapels  of  St.  Katharine  and  St.  Martha,  we  shall 
see,  owed  their  restoration  to  the  pilgrims' 
passage,  and  many  more  along  the  Way  were 
either  raised  in  honour  of  St.  Thomas,  or  else 
adorned  with  frescoes  and  altar-pieces  of  the 
Martyrdom. 

Along  this  pleasant  Surrey  hill-side  the  old 
Canterbury  pilgrims  journeyed,  going  from  church 
to  church,  from  shrine  to  shrine,  and  more 
especially  if  their  pilgrimage  took  place  in  summer, 
enjoying  the  sweet  country  air  and  leafy  shades 
of  this  quiet  woodland  region.  They  lingered, 
we  may  well  believe,  at  the  village  fairs,  and 
stopped  at  every  town  to  see  the  sights  and  hear 
the  news  ;  for  the  pilgrim  of  mediaeval  days  was, 
as  Dean  Stanley  reminds  us,  a  traveller  with  the 
same  adventures,  stories,  pleasures,  pains,  as  the 
traveller  of  our  own  times,  and  men  of  every  type 
and  class  set  out  on  pilgrimages  much  as  tourists 
to-day  start  on  a  foreign  trip.  Some,  no  doubt, 
undertook  the  journey  from  devotion,  and  more  in 


MOTLEY   THRONGS  6l 

a  vague  hope  of  reaping  some  profit,  both  material 
and  spiritual,  from  a  visit  to  the  shrine  of  the 
all-powerful  Saint,  while  a  thousand  other  motives 
— curiosity,  love  of  change  and  adventure,  the 
pleasure  of  a  journey — prompted  the  crowds  who 
thronged  the  road  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year. 
Chaucer's  company  of  pilgrims  we  know  was  a 
motley  crew,  and  included  men  and  women  whose 
characters  were  as  varied  as  their  rank  and  trade. 
With  them  came  a  throng  of  jugglers  and  story- 
tellers and  minstrels,  who  beguiled  the  way  with 
music  and  laughter  as  they  rode  or  walked  along, 
so  that  "  every  town  they  came  through,  what 
with  the  noise  of  their  singing,  and  with  the 
sound  of  their  piping,  and  with  the  jangling  of 
their  Canterbury  bells,  and  with  the  barking  of 
the  dogs  after  them,  they  made  more  noise  than 
if  the  king  came  there  with  all  his  clarions."  In 
their  train,  too,  a  crowd  of  idle  folk,  of  roving 
pedlars  and  begging  friars  and  lazy  tramps,  who 
were  glad  of  any  excuse  to  beg  a  crust  or  coin. 

The  presence  of  these  last  was  by  no  means 
always  welcome  at  the  inns  and  religious  houses 
on    the    road,    where    doubtful    characters    often 


62  ALTON    TO    COMPTON 

craved  admittance,  knowing  that  if  the  hand  of 
justice  overtook  them  they  could  always  find 
refuge  in  one  of  those  churches  where  the  rights 
of  sanctuary  were  so  resolutely  claimed  and  so 
jealously  defended  by  the  Abbot  of  Waverley  or 
the  Prior  of  Newark. 


COMPTON    VILLAGE. 


CHAPTER   IV 


COMPTON    TO    SHALFORD 

Following  the  Pilgrims'  Way  along  the  southern 
slopes  of  the  Hog's  Back,  we  cross  Puttenham 
Heath,  and  reach  the  pretty  little  village  of 
Compton.  Here,  nestling  under  the  downs,  a 
few  hundred  yards  from  the  track,  is  a  beautiful 
old  twelfth-century  church,  which  was  there 
before  the  days  of  St.  Thomas.  This  ancient 
structure,  dedicated  to  St.  Nicholas,  still  retains 
some  good  stained  glass  and  boasts  a  unique 
feature  in  the  shape  of  a  double-storied  chancel. 
The  east  end  of  the  church  is  crossed  by  a  low 

63 


64  COMPTON    TO    SHALFORD 

semicircular  arch  enriched  with  Norman  zigzag 
moulding,  and  surmounted  by  a  rude  screen, 
which  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  piece  of  woodwork 
in  England.  Both  the  upper  and  the  lower 
sanctuaries  have  piscinas,  and  there  is  an  Early 
English  one  in  the  south  aisle.  The  massive 
bases  of  the  chalk  pillars,  the  altar-tomb  north 
of  the  chancel — probably  an  Eastern  sepulchre — 
and  a  hagioscope  now  blocked  up,  all  deserve 
attention,  as  well  as  the  fine  Jacobean  pulpit  and 
chancel  screen,  which  is  now  placed  under  the 
tower  arch. 

A  mile  to  the  west  of  this  singularly  interesting 
church  is  Loseley,  the  historic  mansion  of  the 
More  and  Molyneux  family.  This  manor  was 
Crown  property  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Confessor,  and  is  described  in  Domesday  Book 
as  the  property  of  the  Norman  Roger  de  Mont- 
gomery, Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  on  whom  it  was 
bestowed  by  the  Conqueror.  After  passing 
through  many  hands  it  was  finally  bought  from 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  by  Sir  Christopher  More,  whose  son, 
Sir   William,    built   the   present   mansion.     The 


LOSELEY 


6s 


COMPTON   CHURCH. 


grand  old  house  with  its  grey-stone  gables  and 
mullioned  windows  is  a  perfect  specimen  of 
Elizabethan  architecture.  The  broad  grass  terrace 
along  the  edge  of  the  moat,  the  yew  hedges  with 
their  glossy  hues  of  green  and  purple,  the  old- 
fashioned  borders  full  of  bright  flowers,  and  the 
low  pigeon-houses  standing  at  each  angle,  all 
remain  as  they  were  in  the  reign  of  James  I., 
5 


66  COMPTON    TO    SHALFORD 

and  agree  well  with  Lord  Bacon's  idea  of  what 
a  pleasance  ought  to  be.  Within,  the  walls  are 
wainscoted  with  oak  panelling  throughout,  and 
the  ceilings  and  mantelpieces  are  richly  decorated. 
The  cross  and  mulberry  tree  of  the  Mores,  with 
their  mottoes,  may  still  be  seen  in  the  stained- 
glass  oriel  of  the  great  hall,  and  on  the  cornices 
of  the  drawing-room.  Here  too  is  a  fine  mantel- 
piece, carved  in  white  chalk,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  designed  by  Hans  Holbein.  Many 
are  the  royal  visitors  who  have  left  memorials  of 
their  presence  at  Loseley.  Queen  Elizabeth  had 
an  especial  affection  for  the  place,  and  was  here 
three  times.  The  cushioned  seats  of  two  gilt 
chairs  were  worked  by  her  needle,  and  there  is 
a  painted  panel  bearing  the  quaint  device  of  a 
flower-pot  with  the  red  and  white  roses  of  York 
and  Lancaster,  and  the  fleur-de-lis,  with  the  words 
Rosa  Electa  and  Felicior  Phoenice,  a  pretty 
conceit  which  would  not  fail  to  find  favour  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Virgin  Queen.  The  hall  contains 
portraits  of  James  I.  and  his  wife  Anne  of  Den- 
mark, painted  by  Mytens  in  honour  of  a  visit 
which  they  paid  to  Loseley  in   the  first  year  of 


>  »1 

>    ) 


O 


LOSELEY  67 

this  monarch's  reign ;  and  the  ceiling  of  his 
Majesty's  bedroom  is  elaborately  patterned  over 
with  stucco  reliefs  of  Tudor  roses  and  lilies  and 
thistles.  A  likeness  of  Anne  Boleyn,  and  several 
fine  portraits  of  members  of  the  More  family,  also 
adorn  the  walls,  and  there  is  a  beautiful  little 
picture  of  the  boy-king,  Edward  VI.,  wearing  an 
embroidered  crimson  doublet  and  jewelled  cap 
and  feather,  painted  by  some  clever  pupil  of 
Holbein  in  1547.  This  portrait  was  sent  in  1890 
to  the  Tudor  Exhibition,  which  also  contained 
many  historical  documents  relating  to  different 
personages  of  this  royal  line,  preserved  among 
the  Loseley  manuscripts.  There  are  warrants 
signed  by  Edward  VI.,  the  Lord  Protector,  by 
Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  Lord  of  her  Council, 
including  Hatton  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Cecil,  Lord 
Burghley,  Lord  Effingham,  and  Lord  Derby. 
There  is  one  of  1540,  signed  by  Henry  VIII., 
commanding  Christopher  More,  Sheriff  of  the 
County  of  Sussex,  to  deliver  certain  goods  forfeited 
to  the  crown  to  "  Katheryn  Howarde,  one  of  our 
queue's  maidens,"  and  another,  signed  by 
Elizabeth    in    the  first   year  of  her   reign,  com- 


68  COMPTON    TO    SHALFORD 

manding  William  More  to  raise  and  equip  one 
hundred  able  men,  for  the  defence  of  England 
against  foreign  invasion.  There  is  also  a  curious 
sumptuary  proclamation  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
respecting  the  dress  and  ornaments  of  women, 
and,  what  is  still  more  rare  and  interesting,  a 
warrant  from  Lady  Jane  Grey,  dated  July  19,  I. 
Jane,  and  signed  "  Jane  the  Queue."  Among  the 
more  private  and  personal  papers  is  an  amusing 
letter  from  Robert  Home,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
giving  Mr.  More,  of  Loseley,  advice  as  to  stocking 
the  new  pond  with  the  best  kind  of  carp,  *'  thes 
be  of  a  little  heade,  broade  side  and  not  long ; 
soche  as  be  great  headed  and  longe,  made  after 
the  fashion  of  an  herring,  are  not  good,  neither 
will  ever  be."  Another  from  Bishop  Day  informs 
Sir  William  More,  in  1596,  that  he  intends  to 
fish  the  little  pond  at  Frensham  ;  while  one  to  the 
same  gentleman  from  Alexander  Nowell,  Dean 
of  St.  Paul's,  thanks  him  for  his  exertions  to 
recover  a  stolen  nag  on  his  behalf.  The  treasures 
of  Loseley,  in  fact,  are  as  inexhaustible  as  its 
beauty. 

A  pleasant  walk  through  the  forest  trees  and 


ST.  katherine's  chapel  69 

grassy  glades  of  the  park  leads  us  back  to 
Compton  village  and  the  green  lanes  through 
which  the  Pilgrims'  Way  now  wanders.  Skirting 
the  grounds  of  Monk's  Hatch,  with  their  pine- 
groves  and  rose-gardens  lying  under  the  chalk 
hanger,  the  old  road  passes  close  to  Limnerslease, 
the  Surrey  home  of  George  Frederic  Watts. 
To-day  thousands  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of 
the  world  seek  out  this  sylvan  retreat  where  the 
great  master  spent  his  last  years,  and  visit  the 
treasures  of  art  which  adorn  its  galleries,  and 
the  fair  chapel  and  cloister  that  mark  the  painter's 
grave. 

From  Compton  a  path  known  as  "  Sandy 
Lane  "  leads  over  the  hill  past  Braboeuf  Manor, 
and  the  site  of  the  old  roadside  shrine  of  Littleton 
Cross,  and  comes  out  on  the  open  down,  close 
to  the  chapel  of  St.  Katherine.  This  now  ruined 
shrine,  which  stands  on  a  steep  bank  near  the 
road,  was  rebuilt  on  the  site  of  a  still  older  one 
in  131 7,  by  Richard  de  Wauncey,  Rector  of  St. 
Nicholas,  Guildford,  and  was  much  frequented 
by  pilgrims  to  Canterbury.  So  valuable  were 
the  revenues  derived  by  the  parson   from  their 

5* 


70 


COMPTON    TO    SHALFORD 


.„. ..  ■  C'jJ'> 


.•A.-VM 


■■liJ^';?-"'  fe/' 


;■; 


'J'^'-'tiu  'C-,; 


ST.    KATHERINE's,    GUILDFORD. 


offerings  that  the  original  grant  made  to  Richard 
de  Wauncey  was  disputed,  and  for  some  years 
the  Rector  of  St.  Mary  stepped  into  his  rights. 
But  in  1329  the  Rector  of  St.  Nicholas  succeeded 
in  ousting  his  rival,  and  the  chapel  was  re-conse- 
crated and  attached  to  the  parish  of  St.  Nicholas. 
An  old  legend  ascribes  the  building  of  this  shrine 
and  of  the  chapel  on  St.  Martha's  Hill  to  two 
giant  sisters  of  primaeval  days,  who  raised  the 
walls   with    their   own    hands    and    flung    their 


ST.    KATHERINE  S    CHAPEL 


71 


.wA:;^>.'.^ 


■  SfMartlW*  hi 


)5^»!;^^V, 


-,^^,:-tf^,;^^;::;-.v^ 


•,/-i)ii\ 


ST.    MARTHAS    CHAPEL. 


enormous  hammer  backwards  and  forwards  from 
one  hill  to  the  other.  Unlike  its  more  fortunate 
sister-shrine,  St.  Katherine's  chapel  has  long  been 
roofless  and  dismantled,  but  it  still  forms  a  very 
picturesque  object  in  the  landscape,  and  the 
pointed  arches  of  its  broken  windows  frame  in 
lovely  views  of  the  green  meadows  of  the  winding 


72  COMPTON    TO    SHALFORD 

Wey,  with  the  castle  and  churches  of  Guildford 
at  our  feet,  and  the  hills  and  commons  stretching 
far  away,  to  the  blue  ridge  of  Hindhead. 

The  ancient  city  of  Guildford  owes  its  name 
and  much  of  its  historic  renown  to  its  situation 
on  the  chief  ford  of  the  river  Wey,  which  here 
makes  a  break  in  the  ridge  of  chalk  downs  run- 
ning across  Surrey.  Guildford  is  mentioned  in 
his  will  by  King  Alfred,  who  left  it  to  his  nephew 
Ethel  wold,  and  became  memorable  as  the  spot 
where  another  Alfred,  the  son  of  Knut  and  Emma, 
was  treacherously  seized  and  murdered  by  Earl 
Godwin,  who,  standing  on  the  eastern  slope  of 
the  Hog's  Back  above  the  city,  bade  the  young 
prince  look  back  and  see  how  large  a  kingdom 
would  be  his.  For  seven  centuries,  from  the 
days  of  the  Saxon  kings  to  those  of  the  Stuarts, 
Guildford  remained  Crown  property,  and  the 
Norman  keep  which  still  towers  grandly  above 
the  city  was  long  a  royal  palace.  The  strength 
of  the  castle  and  importance  of  the  position  made 
it  famous  in  the  wars  of  the  barons,  and  the 
Waverley  annalist  records  its  surrender  to 
Louis  VIII.  of  F^rance,  when  he  marched  against 


■>^>^ 


^ 


THE    HOSPlTxVL,    GUILDFORD. 


P-  72, 


GUILDFORD 


73 


0-'yr'r>y-r^.,-C~ 


-C->-y>  J ' 


&A^, 


'^. 


\ll^^ 


%ML.jji^!:::Mi^^^ 


Tn<  H05  5  &fct  tf     F^ 


»~  -~ —  '^.-   /''•■-''     .11'      .  J I  «m/    .*         i'W'/-/,'7/i'7/ 


THE    HOGS    BACK. 


King  John  from  Sandwich  Haven  to  Winchester. 
To-day  the  picturesqueness  of  the  streets,  the 
gabled  roofs  and  panelled  houses,  and  even  more 
the  situation  of  the  town  in  the  heart  of  this  fair 
district,  attract  many  artists,  and  make  it  a 
favourite  centre  for  tourists. 

In  mediaeval  times  Guildford  was  a  convenient 
halting-place  for  pilgrims  on  their  way  from  the 
south  and  west  of  England  to  the  shrine  of 
St.  Thomas.  Many  of  these,  however,  as  the 
shrewd    parson   of  St.   Nicholas   saw,   when    he 


74  COMPTON    TO    SHALFORD 

thought  it  worth  his  while  to  buy  the  freehold 
of  the  site  on  which  St.  Katherine's  chapel  stood, 
would  push  on  and  cross  the  river  by  the  ferry 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  which  still  bears  the  name 
of  the  Pilgrims'  Ferry.  On  landing  they  found 
themselves  in  the  parish  of  Shalford,  in  the 
meadows  where  the  great  fair  was  held  each  year 
in  August.  When  the  original  charter  was 
granted  by  King  John,  the  fair  took  place  in  the 
churchyard,  but  soon  the  concourse  of  people 
became  so  great  that  it  spread  into  the  fields 
along  the  river,  and  covered  as  much  as  one 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  ground.  Shalford 
Fair  seems,  in  fact,  to  have  been  the  most  im- 
portant one  in  this  part  of  Surrey,  and  no  doubt 
owed  its  existence  to  the  passage  of  the  Canter- 
bury pilgrims. 


S'MaTll-vaj     from  th«  Hogj  Bick    S 


ST.  Martha's  from  the  hog's  back. 


CHAPTER  V 


SHALFORD  TO    ALBURY 

The  line  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way  may  be  clearly 
followed  from  the  banks  of  the  Wey  up  the  hill. 
It  goes  through  Shalford  Park,  up  Ciderhouse 
Lane,  where  the  ancient  Pesthouse  or  refuge  for 
sick  pilgrims  and  travellers,  now  called  Cider- 
house  Cottage,  is  still  standing,  and  leads  through 
the  Chantrey  Woods  straight  to  St.  Martha's 
Chapel. 

The  district  through  which  it  takes  us  is  one 

75 


76  SHALFORD    TO    ALBURY 

of  the  wildest  and  loveliest  parts  of  Surrey. 
"Very  few  prettier  rides  in  England,"  remarks 
Cobbett,  who  repeatedly  travelled  along  this  track, 
and  the  beauty  of  the  views  all  along  its  course 
will  more  than  repay  the  traveller  who  makes 
his  way  on  foot  over  the  hills  from  Guildford  to 
Dorking.  One  of  the  most  extensive  is  to  be 
had  from  St.  Martha's  Hill,  where  the  prospect 
ranges  in  one  direction  over  South  Leith  Hill 
and  the  South  Downs  far  away  to  the  Weald  of 
Sussex  and  the  well-known  clump  of  Chancton- 
bury  Ring  ;  and  on  the  other  over  the  commons 
and  moors  to  the  crests  of  Hindhead  and  the 
Hog's  Back  ;  while  looking  northward  we  have 
a  wide  view  over  the  Surrey  plains  and  the  valley 
of  the  Thames,  and  Windsor  Castle  and  the 
dome  of  St.  Paul's  may  be  distinguished  on  clear 
days. 

The  ancient  chapel  on  the  summit,  which  gives 
its  name  to  St.  Martha's  Hill,  was  originally  built 
in  memory  of  certain  Christians  who  suffered 
martyrdom  on  the  spot,  and  was  formerly  dedi- 
cated to  all  holy  martyrs,  while  the  hill  itself  was 
known  as  the  Martyrs'  Hill,  of  which,  as  Grose 


ST.    MARTHA  S    CHAPEL  77 

remarks/  "  the  present  name  is  supposed  to  be 
a  corruption."  In  the  twelfth  century  it  became 
peculiarly  associated  with  the  Canterbury  pilgrims, 
and  a  new  chancel  was  built  for  their  use,  and 
consecrated  to  St.  Thomas  a  Becket  in  the  year 
1186.  In  1262  this  chapel  was  attached  to  the 
Priory  of  Newark,  an  Augustinian  convent  near 
Ripley,  dedicated  to  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury 
by  Ruald  de  Calva  in  the  reign  of  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion.  The  Prior  already  owned 
most  of  the  hill-side,  and  the  names  of  Farthing 
Copse  and  Halfpenny  Lane,  through  which  the 
pilgrims  passed  on  their  way  to  St.  Martha's 
Chapel,  remind  us  of  the  tolls  which  he  levied 
from  all  who  travelled  along  the  road.  We 
have  already  seen  how  in  the  earlier  portions 
of  the  Way  the  Prior  of  Newark  disputed  the 
rights  of  the  Abbot  of  Waverley.  Here  he 
reigned  supreme.  A  priest  from  Newark  Priory 
served  St.  Martha's  Chapel,  and  is  said  to  have 
lived  at  Tyting's  P'arm,  an  old  gabled  house  with 
the  remains  of  a  small  oratory  close  to  the  Pil- 
grims' Way.     In  latter  days  a  colony  of  monks 

^  Grose,  "  Antiquities  of  England  and  Wales,"  v.  110. 


yS  SHALFORD    TO    ALBURY 

from  Newark  settled  at  Chilworth,  where  the 
present  manor-house  contains  fragments  of 
monastic  building,  and  the  fishponds  of  the  friars 
may  still  be  seen  near  the  terraced  gardens. 
During  the  troubled  times  of  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses  the  Chapel  of  St.  Martha  fell  into  ruins, 
and  owed  its  restoration  to  Bishop  William  of 
Waynflete,  who  in  1463  granted  forty  days'  in- 
dulgence to  all  pilgrims  who  should  visit  the 
shrine  and  there  repeat  a  Pater  Noster,  an  Ave, 
and  a  Credo,  or  contribute  to  its  repair.  After 
the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  both  Newark 
Priory  and  St.  Martha's  shrine  fell  into  ruins, 
and  the  chapel  was  only  restored  of  late  years. 
At  Chilworth,  south  of  St.  Martha's  Hill,  lies  the 
once  fair  valley  which  has  been  defaced  by  the 
powder-mills,  first  established  there  three  centuries 
ago  by  an  ancestor  of  John  Evelyn,  and  now 
worked  by  steam.  This  is  the  place  which  Cob- 
bett  denounces  in  his  "  Rural  Rides "  with  a 
vigour  and  eloquence  worthy  of  Mr.  Ruskin 
himself : 

"  This  valley,  which  seems  to  have  been  created 
by  a  bountiful  Providence  as  one  of  the  choicest 


GUNPOWDER   AND    BANKNOTES  79 

retreats  of  man,  which  seems  formed  for  a  scene 
of  innocence  and  happiness,  has  been  by  ungrate- 
ful man  so  perverted  as  to  make  it  instrumental 
in  effecting  two  of  the  most  damnable  of  pur- 
poses, in  carrying  into  execution  two  of  the  most 
damnable  inventions  that  ever  sprang  from  the 
mind  of  man  under  the  influence  of  the  devil  ! 
namely,  the  making  of  gunpowder  and  of  bank- 
notes !  Here,  in  this  tranquil  spot,  where  the 
nightingales  are  to  be  heard  earlier  and  later  in 
the  year  than  in  any  other  part  of  England ; 
where  the  first  budding  of  the  buds  is  seen  in 
spring ;  where  no  rigour  of  season  can  ever  be 
felt;  where  everything  seems  formed  for  precluding 
the  very  thought  of  wickedness  ;  here  has  the 
devil  fixed  on  as  one  of  the  seats  of  this  grand 
manufactory  ;  and  perverse  and  ungrateful  man 
not  only  lends  his  aid,  but  lends  it  cheerfully. 
To  think  that  the  springs  which  God  has  com- 
manded to  flow  from  the  sides  of  these  happy 
hills  for  the  comfort  and  delight  of  man — to 
think  that  these  springs  should  be  perverted 
into  means  of  spreading  misery  over  a  whole 
nation  !  " 


8o  SHALFORD    TO    ALBURY 

One  of  these  "  inventions  of  the  devil  "  has 
been  removed.  The  paper-mills  which  made  the 
bank-notes  in  Cobbett's  time  are  silent  now,  but 
the  powder-mills  are  in  full  activity,  and  Chilworth, 
with  its  coal-stores  and  railway-crossing,  has  a 
blackened  and  desolate  look  which  not  all  the 
natural  beauties  of  its  surroundings  can  dispel. 

Once  more  upon  the  hills,  we  can  follow  the 
line  of  yews  which  are  seen  at  intervals  along 
the  ridge  from  St.  Martha's  Chapel  by  Weston 
Wood  and  the  back  of  Albury  Park,  turning  a 
few  steps  out  of  our  path  to  visit  Newland's 
Corner,  the  highest  point  of  Albury  Downs,  and 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  in  the  whole  of 
Surrey.  The  view  is  as  extensive  as  that  from 
St.  Martha's  Hill,  and  is  even  more  varied  and 
picturesque.  Over  broken  ridges  of  heathery 
down  and  gently  swelling  slopes,  clad  with  beech 
and  oak  woods,  we  look  across  to  Ewhurst  Mill, 
a  conspicuous  landmark  in  all  this  country,  and 
farther  westward  to  the  towers  of  Charterhouse 
and  the  distant  heights  of  Hindhead  and  Black- 
down  ;  while  immediately  in  front,  across  the 
wooded  valley,  rises  St.  Martha's  Hill,  crowned 


H 
oi 
O 

u 


o 

OS 


H 


H 


82  SHALFORD    TO    ALBURY 

by  its  ancient  chapel.  Here  we  can  watch  the 
changes  of  sun  and  shower  over  the  wide  expanse 
of  level  country,  and  see  the  long  range  of  far 
hills  veiled  in  the  thin  blue  mists  of  morning,  or 
turning  purple  under  the  gold  of  the  evening  sky. 
Some  of  the  oldest  and  finest  yew  trees  in  all 
Surrey  are  close  to  Newland's  Corner — the  ancient 
yew  grove  there  is  mentioned  in  Domesday — and 
their  dark  foliage  offers  a  fine  contrast  to  the 
bright  tints  of  the  neighbouring  woods  and  to 
the  snowy  masses  of  blossom  which  in  early 
summer  clothe  the  gnarled  old  hawthorn  trees 
that  are  studded  over  the  hill-side.  We  can 
follow  the  track  over  the  springy  turf  of  the  open 
downs  and  up  glades  thick  with  bracken,  till  it 
becomes  choked  with  bushes  and  brambles,  and 
finally  loses  itself  in  the  woods  of  Albury. 

Here,  in  the  middle  of  the  Duke  of  North- 
umberland's park,  is  the  deep  glen,  surrounded 
by  wooded  heights,  known  as  the  Silent  Pool. 
A  dark  tale,  which  Martin  Tupper  has  made  the 
subject  of  his  "  Stephen  Langton,"  belongs  to 
this  lonely  spot.  King  John,  tradition  says, 
loved  a  fair  woodman's  daughter  who  lived  here, 


ALBURY  83 

and  surprised  her  in  the  act  of  bathing  in  the 
pool.  The  frightened  girl  let  loose  the  branch 
by  which  she  held,  and  was  drowned  in  the 
water  ;  and  her  brother,  a  goat-herd,  who  at  the 
sound  of  her  scream  had  rushed  in  after  her, 
shared  the  same  fate.  And  still,  the  legend  goes, 
at  midnight  you  may  see  a  black-haired  maiden 
clasping  her  arms  round  her  brother  in  his  cow- 
hide tunic  under  the  clear  rippling  surface  of  the 
Silent  Pool. 

A  little  farther  on  is  the  old  church  of  Albury 
— Eldeburie,  mentioned  in  Domesday,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  the  most  ancient  in  Surrey.  The 
low  tower,  with  its  narrow  two-light  windows, 
probably  dates  back  to  very  early  Norman  times, 
but  the  rest  of  the  church  is  considerably 
later.  The  south  chapel  was  richly  decorated  by 
Mr.  Drummond,  who  bought  the  place  in  18 19, 
and  is  now  used  as  a  mortuary  chapel  for  his 
family.  Albury  formerly  belonged  to  the  Dukes 
of  Norfolk.  The  gardens  were  originally  laid 
out  by  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of  Arundel,  the 
accomplished  collector  of  the  Arundel  marbles, 
and  whose  fine  portrait  by  Vandyck  was  exhibited 


84  SHALFORD    TO    ALBURY 

at  Burlington  House  in  the  winter  of  1891.  His 
friend  and  neighbour,  Mr.  Evelyn,  helped  him 
with  his  advice  and  taste,  and  designed  the  grotto 
under  the  hill,  which  still  remains.  "  Such  a 
Pausilippe,"  remarks  the  author  of  "The  Sylva," 
"  is  nowhere  in  England  besides."  But  the  great 
ornament  of  Albury  is  the  famous  yew  hedge, 
about  ten  feet  high  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long, 
probably  the  finest  of  its  kind  in  England.  So 
thick  are  the  upper  branches  of  the  yew  trees 
that,  as  William  Cobbett  writes,  when  he  visited 
Albury  in  Mr.  Drummond's  time,  they  kept  out 
both  the  rain  and  sun,  and  alike  in  summer  and 
winter  afford  "a  most  delightful  walk."  The 
grand  terrace  under  the  hill,  "thirty  or  forty  feet 
wide,  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  of  the  finest 
green-sward,  and  as  level  as  a  die,"  particularly 
delighted  him  ;  and  the  careful  way  in  which  the 
fruit  trees  were  protected  from  the  wind,  and 
the  springs  along  the  hill-side  collected  to  water 
the  garden,  gratified  his  practical  mind.  "Take 
it  altogether,"  he  goes  on,  "this  certainly  is  the 
prettiest  garden  that  I  ever  beheld.  There  was 
taste  and  sound  judgment  at  every  step  in  the 


>  :i.ir,>r.:;3#?,S';:>;^^^f; 


Alburn  Olci   Oiurcli    M 


-^^'^i/^>^/^<,.: 


i':ii^'^'i^;- 


ALBURY   OLD   CHURCH. 


* 


86  SHALFORD    TO    ALBURY 

laying  out  of  this  place.  Everywhere  Utility 
and  convenience  is  combined  with  beauty.  The 
terrace  is  by  far  the  finest  thing  of  the  sort  that 
I  ever  saw,  and  the  whole  thing  altogether  is  a 
great  compliment  to  the  taste  of  the  times  in 
which  it  was  formed."  The  honest  old  reformer's 
satisfaction  in  these  gardens  was  increased  by 
the  reflection  that  the  owner  was  worthy  of  his 
estate,  seeing  that  he  was  famed  for  his  justice 
and  kindness  towards  the  labouring  classes — 
"  who,  God  knows,  have  very  few  friends  amongst 
the  rich ; "  and  adds,  that  he  for  one  has  no 
sympathy  with  "the  fools"  who  want  a  revolu- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  getting  hold  of  other 
people's  property.  "There  are  others  who  like 
pretty  gardens  as  well  as  I,  and  if  the  question 
were  to  be  decided  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
strongest,  or,  as  the  French  call  it,  droit  dii  plus 
fort,  my  chance  would  be  but  a  very  poor  one." 


TV, 


fM. 


THE    MILL,    GOMSHALL. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SHERE    TO    REIGATE 

V. 

The  Pilgrims'  Way  ran  through  Albury  Park, 
passing  dose  to  the  old  church  and  under  the 
famous  yew  hedge,  and  crossed  the  clear  trout 
stream  of  the  Tillingbourne  by  a  ford  still  known 
as  "Chantry  Ford."  Here  a  noble  avenue  of 
lime  trees  brings  us  to  Shere  church,  a  building 
as  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  its  situation  as 
for  its  architectural  interest.     The  lovely   Early 

87 


SHERE    TO    REIGATE 

English  doorway,  the  heavy  transitional  arches 
of  the  nave  and  the  fourteenth-century  chancel 
are  still  unhurt,  and  among  the  fragments  of  old 
glass  we  recognise  the  flax-breaker,  which  was 
the  crest  of  the  Brays,  one  of  the  oldest  families 
in  the  county,  who  are,  we  rejoice  to  think,  still 
represented  here.  Shere  itself  is  one  of  the  most 
charming  villages  in  all  this  lovely  neighbourhood. 
For  many  years  now  it  has  been  a  favourite  resort 
of  artistic  and  literary  men,  who  find  endless 
delight  in  the  quiet  beauty  of  the  surrounding 
country.  Subjects  for  pen  and  pencil  abound 
in  all  directions  ;  quaint  old  timbered  houses, 
picturesque  water-mills  and  barns,  deep  ferny 
lanes  shaded  by  overhanging  trees,  and  exquisite 
glimpses  of  heather-clad  downs  meet  us  at  every 
turn.  Fair  as  the  scene  is,  travellers  are  seldom 
seen  in  these  hilly  regions  ;  and  so  complete  is 
the  stillness,  so  pure  the  mountain  air,  that  we 
might  almost  fancy  ourselves  in  the  heart  of  the 
Highlands,  instead  of  thirty  miles  from  town. 
Here  it  was,  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  scenery 
of  these  Surrey  Hills,  that  a  sudden  end  closed 
the   life   of   a   great   prelate   of    our   own    days, 


en 


:tl^v''   fe 


90  SHERE    TO    REIGATE 

Samuel  Wilberforce,  Bishop  of  Winchester.  A 
granite  cross  at  Evershed's  Rough,  just  below 
Lord  Farrer's  house  at  Abinger  Hall,  now  marks 
the  spot  where  his  horse  stumbled  and  fell  as 
he  rode  down  the  hill  towards  Holmbury  on 
that  summer  afternoon. 

About  a  mile  beyond  Abinger  we  reach  the 
home  of  John  Evelyn,  and  see  the  grey  tower  of 
the  church  where  he  is  buried.  This  is  Wotton 
— the  town  of  the  woods,  as  he  loved  to  call  it — 
"  sweetly  environed  "  with  "  venerable  woods  and 
delicious  streams  ;  "  Wotton  where,  after  all  his 
wanderings  and  all  the  turmoil  of  those  troublous 
times,  Evelyn  found  a  peaceful  haven  wherein  to 
end  his  days.  There  are  the  terraces,  the  "  foun- 
tains and  groves,"  in  which  he  took  delight ; 
there,  too,  are  the  pine-woods  which  he  planted, 
not  only  for  ornament,  and  because  they  "create 
a  perpetual  spring,"  but  because  he  held  the  air  to 
be  improved  by  their  "  odoriferous  and  balsamical 
emissions."  Not  only  these  trees,  but  the  oak 
and  ash,  and  all  the  different  species  which  he 
studied  so  closely  and  has  written  about  so  well, 
were  dear  to  him  as  his  own  children,  and  he 


WOTTON 


91 


A*>lM""^-«(. 


CROSSWAYS    FARM,    NEAR   WOTTON.^ 

speaks  in  pathetic  language  of  the  violent  storm 
which  blew  down  two  thousand  of  his  finest  trees 
in  a  single  night,  and  almost  within  sight  of  his 
dwelling,  and  left  Wotton,  "  now  no  more  Wood- 
tonn,  stripped  and  naked,  and  almost  ashamed  to 
own  its  name.  Methinks  that  I  still  hear,  and 
I  am  sure  that  I  feel,  the  dismal  groans  of  our 


^  Meredith's   novel,  "  Diana   of  the   Crossways,"   takes   its   name 
from  this  farm. 


92  SHERE    TO    REIGATE 

forests,  when  that  late  dreadful  Hurricane,  happen- 
ing on  the  26th  of  November,  1 703,  subverted  so 
many  thousands  of  goodly  oaks,  prostrating  the 
trees,  laying  them  in  ghastly  postures,  like  whole 
regiments  fallen  in  battle  by  the  sword  of  the 
conqueror,  and  crushing  all  that  grew  beneath 
them."  Evelyn's  descendants  have  bestowed  the 
same  care  on  the  woods  and  plantations,  and  in 
spite  of  the  havoc  wrought  by  wind  and  tempest, 
Wotton  is  still  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  its 
forest-trees  and  masses  of  flowering  rhododen- 
drons. 

The  red-brick  house  has  been  a  good  deal 
altered  during  the  present  century,  but  is  still  full 
of  memorials  of  Evelyn.  His  portrait,  and  that 
of  his  wife  and  father-in-law.  Sir  Richard  Browne, 
are  there,  and  that  of  his  "angelic  friend,"  Mistress 
Blagge,  the  wife  of  Godolphin,  whose  beautiful 
memory  he  has  enshrined  in  the  pages  of  the 
little  volume  that  bears  her  name.  The  drawings 
which  he  made  on  his  foreign  travels  are  there 
too  ;  and  better  still,  the  books  in  which  he  took 
such  pride  and  pleasure,  carefully  bound,  bearing 
on  their  backs  a  device  and  motto  which  he  chose, 


.'■  i  i? ;  .-.-^  ? 


c 

H 
O 


'I? 


^ 


94  SHERE    TO    REIGATE 

a  spray  of  oak,  palm,  and  olive  entwined  together, 
with  the  words,  "  Omnia  explorate ;  meliora 
retinete."  But  the  most  precious  relic  of  all  is 
the  Prayer  Book  used  by  Charles  I.  on  the  morn- 
ing of  his  execution.  It  was  saved  from  destruc- 
tion by  a  devoted  loyalist,  Isaac  Herault,  brother 
of  a  Walloon  minister  in  London,  and  afterwards 
given  by  him  to  Evelyn's  father-in-law,  Sir 
Richard  Browne.  The  fly-leaf  bears  a  Latin 
inscription  with  this  note  : — This  is  the  Booke 
which  Charles  the  First,  Martyr  beatus,  did  use 
upon  the  Scaffold,  xxx  Jan.,  1649,  being  the  Day 
of  his  glorious  martyrdom." 

The  exact  course  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way  here 
is  uncertain.  After  leaving  Shere  church  it  dis- 
appears, and  we  must  climb  a  steep  lane  past 
Gomshall  station,  to  find  the  track  again  on 
Hackhurst  Downs.  The  line  of  yews  is  to  be 
seen  at  intervals  all  along  these  downs,  and  as  we 
descend  into  the  valley  of  the  Mole,  opposite  the 
heights  of  Box  Hill,  we  pass  four  venerable  yew 
trees  standing  in  a  field  by  themselves.  One  of 
the  group  was  struck  by  lightning  many  years 
ago,  but   still  stretches  its  gaunt,  withered  arms 


DORKING 


95 


BOX    HILL   AND   DORKING   CHURCH    SPIRE. 


against  the  sky,  like  some  weather-beaten  sign- 
post marking  the  way  to  Canterbury. 

The  town  of  Dorking  lies  in  the  break  here 
made  in  the  chalk  hills  by  the  passage  of  the 
river  Mole  ;  Milton's  "  sullen  Mole  that  windeth 
underground,"  or,  as  Spenser  sings  in  his  "  Faerie 
Queen," — 

"  Mole,  that  like  a  mousling  mole  doth  make 
His  way  still  underground,  till  Thames  he  overtake." 


96 


SHERE    TO    REIGATE 


T^«  White  HoTsa  Dorkung   M 


THE    WHITE    HORSE,    DORKING. 

The  Mole  owes  its  fame  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
so  seldom  seen,  and  several  of  the  swallows  or 
gullies  into  which  it  disappears  at  intervals  along 
its  chalky  bed  are  at  Burford,  close  to  Dorking. 
The  ponds  which  supplied  the  perch  for  that 
water-sousie  which  Dutch  merchants  came  to 
eat  at  Dorking,  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  fields 
under  Redhill,  and  near  them  many  an  old  tim- 
bered house  and  mill-wheel  well  worth  painting. 


DORKING 


97 


BETWEEN    DORKING    AND    BETCHWORTH    LOOKING   WEST. 


To-day  Dorking  is  a  quiet,  sleepy  little  place,  but 
its  situation  on  the  Stane  Street,  the  great  Roman 
road  from  Chichester  to  London,  formerly  made 
it  a  centre  of  considerable  importance,  and  the 
size  and  excellence  of  the  old-fashioned  inns  still 
bear  witness  to  its  departed  grandeur.  Whether, 
as  seems  most  probable,  the  old  road  ran  under 
the  wall  of  Denbies  Park,  and  across  the  gap  now 
made  by  the  Dorking  lime  works,  or  whether,  as 
the  Ordnance  map  indicates,  it  crossed  the  breezy 
7 


98  SHERE    TO    REIGATE 

heights  of  Ranmore  Common,  pilgrims  to  Canter- 
bury certainly  crossed  the  Mole  at  Burford 
Bridge  about  half  a  mile  from  the  town.  The 
remains  of  an  ancient  shrine  known  as  the  Pil- 
grims' Chapel  are  still  shown  in  Westhumble 
Lane.  The  path  itself  bears  the  name  of  Pater- 
noster Lane,  and  the  fields  on  either  side  are 
called  the  Pray  Meadows.  From  this  point  the 
path  runs  along  under  Boxhill,  the  steep  down 
that  rises  abruptly  on  the  eastern  side  of  Dorking, 
and  takes  its  name  from  the  box-trees  which  here 
spring  up  so  plentifully  in  the  smooth  green  turf 
above  the  chalk.  Boxhill  is,  we  all  know,  one  of 
the  chief  attractions  which  Dorking  offers  to 
Londoners.  The  other  is  to  be  found  in  the  fine 
parks  of  Deepdene  and  Betchworth,  immediately 
adjoining  the  town.  The  famous  gardens  and 
art  collections  of  Deepdene,  and  the  noble  lime 
avenue  of  Betchworth,  which  now  forms  part  of 
the  same  estate,  have  often  been  visited  and  de- 
scribed. The  house  at  Deepdene  is  now  closed 
to  the  public,  but  the  traveller  can  still  stroll 
under  the  grand  old  trees  on  the  river  bank, 
and   enjoy   a  wealthy   variety   of  forest   scenery 


ROMAN    REMAINS  99 

almost  unrivalled  in  England.  A  picturesque 
bridge  over  the  Mole  leads  back  to  the  downs 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  where  the  old 
track  pursues  its  way  along  the  lower  slope  of 
the  hills,  often  wending  its  course  through 
ploughed  fields  and  tangled  thickets  and  dis- 
appearing altogether  in  places  where  chalk  quarries 
and  lime  works  have  cut  away  the  face  of  the 
down.  But  on  the  whole  the  line  of  yews  which 
mark  the  road  is  more  regular  between  Dorking 
and  Reigate  than  in  its  earlier  course,  and  at 
Buckland,  a  village  two  miles  west  of  Reigate,  a 
whole  procession  of  these  trees  descends  into  the 
valley. 

All  this  part  of  the  road  is  rich  in  Roman 
remains.  Of  these  one  of  the  most  interesting 
was  the  building  discovered  in  1875,  at  Colley 
Farm,  in  the  parish  of  Reigate,  just  south  of  the 
Way.  Not  only  were  several  cinerary  urns  and 
fragments  of  Roman  pottery  dug  up,  but  the 
walls  of  a  Roman  building  were  found  under 
those  of  the  present  farmhouse.  Some  twenty 
years  ago  a  similar  building  was  discovered  at 
Abinger,  also  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 


lOO 


SHERE   TO    REIGATE 


hove  £>eti:Kv*oTth 


ON  "the  way"  above  betchworth. 


track,  but  unfortunately  it  was  completely  de- 
stroyed in  the  absence  of  the  owner,  Sir  Thomas 
Farrer.  Another  Roman  house  came  to  light  in 
1813,  at  Bletchingley,  and  one  chamber,  which 
appeared  to  be  a  hypocaust,  was  excavated  at  the 
time.  Lastly,  considerable  Roman  remains  have 
been  discovered  and  carefully  excavated  by  Mr. 
Leveson-Gower  in  the  park  at  Titsey.  Of  these 
the  most  important  are  a  Roman  villa,  which  was 


JOHN  BUNYAN  ;  :;>.;    lOI       \^ 

thoroughly  excavated  in  1864,  together  with-! a"-.' '"'.• 
group  of  larger  buildings,  apparently  the  farm 
belonging  to  the  ancient  house.  These  are  only 
a  few  of  the  principal  links  in  the  chain  of 
Roman  buildings  which  lie  along  the  course  of 
this  ancient  trackway,  and  which  all  help  to 
prove  its  importance  as  a  thoroughfare  at  the 
time  of  the  Roman  occupation. 

Another  point  of  interest  regarding  this  part 
of  the  Pilgrims'  Way  is  its  connection  with  John 
Bunyan.  When  his  peculiar  opinions  and  open- 
air  preachings  had  brought  him  into  trouble  with 
the  authorities,  he  came  to  hide  in  these  Surrey 
hills,  and  earned  his  living  for  some  time  as  a 
travelling  tinker.  Two  houses,  one  at  Horn 
Hatch,  on  Shalford  Common,  the  other  at  Quarry 
Hill,  in  Guildford,  are  still  pointed  out  as  having 
been  inhabited  by  him  at  this  time  ;  and  a  recent 
writer  ^  has  suggested  that  in  all  probability  the 
recollections  of  Pilgrimage  days,  then  fresh  in 
the  minds  of  the  people,  first  gave  him  the  idea 

^  Captain  E.  Renouard  James,  whose  "  Notes  on  the  Pilgrims'  Way 
in  West  Surrey  "  will  be  found  to  supply  much  valuable  local  informa- 
tion.    (London,  Edward  Stanford,  1871.) 


I02  SHERE    TO    REIGATE 

of  his  •'  Pilgrim's  Progress."  Certainly  more  than 
one  incident  in  the  history  of  the  road  bears  a 
close  resemblance  to  the  tale  of  Christian's  ad- 
ventures. Thus,  for  instance,  the  swampy  marshes 
at  Shalford  may  have  been  the  Slough  of  Despond, 
the  blue  Surrey  hills  seen  from  the  distance  may 
well  have  seemed  to  him  the  Delectable  Moun- 
tains, and  the  name  of  Doubting  Castle  actually 
exists  at  a  point  of  the  road  near  Box  Hill. 
Lastly,  the  great  fair  at  Shalford  corresponds 
exactly  with  Bunyan's  description  of  Vanity  Fair, 
no  newly  erected  business,  but  "  a  thing  of  ancient 
standing,"  where  "  the  ware  of  Rome  and  her 
merchandise  is  greatly  promoted  .  .  .  only  our 
English  nation  have  taken  a  dislike  thereat." 
In  the  days  when  Bunyan  wrote,  the  annual  fair 
had  degenerated  into  a  lawless  and  noisy  assembly, 
where  little  trade  was  done,  and  much  drinking 
and  fighting  and  rude  horseplay  went  on,  as  he 
may  have  found  to  his  cost.  The  wares  of  Rome, 
in  fact,  were  commodities  no  longer  in  fashion, 
and  soon  the  fair  itself  came  to  an  end  and  passed 
away,  like  so  many  other  things  that  had  been 
called  into  being  by  the  Canterbury  Pilgrimage. 


WINDMILL    ON    REIGATE   COMMON. 


CHAPTER   VII 


REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 


Although  the  town  of  Reigate  lies  in  the  valley, 
it  certainly  takes  its  name  from  the  Pilgrims' 
Road  to  Canterbury.  In  Domesday  it  is  called 
Cherchfelle,  and  it  is  not  till  the  latter  part 
of  the  twelfth  century  that  the  comparatively 
modern  name  of  Rigegate,  the  Ridge  Road,  was 
applied,  first  of  all  to  the  upper  part  of  the  parish, 
and  eventually  to  the  whole  town.  In  those  days 
a  chapel  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  the  blessed 


lO- 


I04  REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 

martyr,  St.  Thomas,  stood  at  the  east  end  of  the 
long  street,  on  a  site  now  occupied  by  a  market- 
house,  built  early  in  the  last  century,  and  part 
of  the  ancient  foundations  of  this  pilgrimage 
shrine  were  brought  to  light  when  the  adjoining 
prison  was  enlarged  some  eighty  or  ninety  years 
back.  Another  chapel,  dedicated  to  St.  Laurence 
the  Martyr,  stood  farther  down  the  street ;  and  a 
third,  the  Chapel  of  Holy  Cross,  belonged  to  the 
Augustine  Canons  of  the  Priory  founded  by 
William  of  Warrenne,  Earl  of  Surrey,  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  In  Saxon  days  Reigate,  or 
Holm  Castle,  as  it  was  then  termed,  from  its 
situation  at  the  head  of  the  valley  of  Holmesdale, 
was  an  important  stronghold,  and  the  vigour  and 
persistence  with  which  the  incursions  of  the 
Danes  were  repelled  by  the  inhabitants  of  this 
district  gave  rise  to  the  rhyme  quoted  by 
Camden — 

"  The  Vale  of  Holmesdale 
Never  wonne,  ne  never  shall." 

At  the  Conquest  the  manor  was  granted  to 
William   of  Warrenne,  and   from  that  time  the 


REIGATE   PRIORY 


105 


REIGATE   COMMON. 


castle  became  the  most  powerful  fortress  of  the 
mighty  Earls  of  Surrey.  In  the  days  of  John  it 
shared  the  fate  of  Guildford  Castle,  and  was  one 
of  the  strongholds  which  opened  its  gates  to 
Louis  VIII.,  King  of  France,  on  his  march  from 
the  Kentish  Coast  to  Winchester.  The  Fitzalans 
succeeded  the  Warrennes  in  the  possession  of 
Reigate,  and  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  both 
the  castle  and  the  Priory  were  granted  to  the 
Howards  of  Effingham.  Queen  Elizabeth's 
Lord  High  Admiral,  the  victor  of  the  Invincible 
Armada,    lies    buried    in    the    vault    under    the 


I06  REIGATE  TO    CHEVENING 

chancel  of  Reigate  Church.  In  Stuart  times  the 
castle  gradually  fell  into  decay,  until  it  was  finally 
destroyed  by  order  of  Parliament,  during  the 
Civil  War,  lest  it  should  fall  into  the  King's 
hands.  Now  only  the  mound  of  the  ancient  keep 
remains,  and  some  spacious  subterranean  chambers 
which  may  have  served  as  cellars  or  dungeons  in 
Norman  times.  The  Priory  has  also  been  re- 
placed by  a  modern  house,  and  is  the  property 
of  Lady  Henry  Somerset,  the  representative  of 
the  Earl  Somers,  to  whom  William  III.  granted 
Reigate  in  1697. 

Reigate  is  frequently  mentioned  in  Cobbett's 
"  Rural  Rides,"  and  it  was  the  sight  of  the 
Priory  that  set  him  moralising  over  monasteries 
and  asking  himself  if,  instead  of  being,  as  we 
take  it  for  granted,  bad  things,  they  were  not, 
after  all,  better  \)ci2iX).  poor-rates,  and  if  the  monks 
and  nuns,  who  fed  the  poor,  were  not  more  to  be 
commended  than  the  rich  pensioners  of  the  State, 
who  feed  upon  the  poor. 

Close  to  this  ancient  foundation  is  the  hilly 
common  known  as  Reigate  Park,  a  favourite  haunt 
with    artists,   who  find    endless    subjects    in    the 


REIGATE    PARK  I07 

fern-grown  dells  and  romantic  hollows,  the  clumps 
of  thorn-trees  with  their  gnarled  stems  and 
spreading  boughs,  their  wealth  of  wild  flowers  and 
berries.  The  views  over  Reigate  itself  and  the 
Priory  grounds  on  one  side,  and  over  the  Sussex 
Weald  on  the  other,  are  very  charming  ;  but  a  still 
finer  prospect  awaits  us  on  the  North  Downs  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  where  the  Pilgrims' 
Road  goes  on  its  course.  The  best  way  is  to 
climb  Reigate  Hill  as  far  as  the  suspension 
bridge,  and  follow  a  path  cut  in  the  chalk  to  the 
summit  of  the  ridge.  It  leads  through  a  beech- 
wood  on  to  the  open  downs,  where,  if  the  day 
is  clear,  one  of  the  finest  views  in  the  whole 
of  England — in  the  whole  world,  says  Cobbett — 
breaks  upon  us.  The  Weald  of  Surrey  and  of 
Sussex,  from  the  borders  of  Hampshire  to  the 
ridge  of  East  Grinstead,  and  Crowborough  Beacon, 
near  Tunbridge  Wells,  lies  spread  out  at  our  feet. 
Eastward,  the  eye  ranges  over  the  Weald  of  Kent 
and  the  heights  above  Sevenoaks  ;  westward  the 
purple  ridge  of  Leith  Hill  and  the  familiar  crest 
of  Hindhead  meet  us  ;  and  far  away  to  the  south 
are  the  Brighton  downs  and  Chanctonbury  Ring 


io8 


REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 


LooUling   E     (ro^  j/n^QMoT,  RitV 


LOOKING    EAST    FROM    GATTON    PARK. 

The  line  of  yew  trees  appears  again  here,  and 
after  keeping  along  the  top  of  the  ridge  for  about 
a  mile,  the  Pilgrims'  Way  enters  Gatton  Park, 
and  passing  through  the  woods  near  Lord  Oxen- 
bridge's  house,  joins  the  avenue  that  leads  to 
Merstham.  Gatton  itself,  which,  like  Reigate, 
takes  its  name  from  the  Pilgrims'  Road — Saxon, 
Gatetun,  the  town  of  the  road — was  chiefly  famous 
for  the  electoral  privileges  which  it  so  long  en- 


ROTTEN    BOROUGHS  IO9 

joyed.  From  the  time  of  Henry  VI.  until  the 
Reform  Bill  of  1832,  this  very  small  borough 
returned  two  members  to  Parliament.  In  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.  Sir  Roger  Copley  is  de- 
scribed as  the  burgess  and  sole  inhabitant  of  the 
borough  and  town  of  Gatton,  and  for  many  years 
the  constituency  consisted  of  one  person,  the  lord 
of  the  manor. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  there 
were  only  eight  houses  in  the  whole  parish,  a 
fact  which  naturally  roused  the  ire  of  William 
Cobbett.  "  Before  you  descend  the  hill  to  go 
into  Reigate,"  he  writes  in  one  of  his  Rural  Rides, 
"you  pass  Gatton,  which  is  a  very  rascally  spot 
of  earth."  And  when  rainy  weather  detained  him 
a  whole  day  at  Reigate,  he  moralises  in  this  vein 
— "  In  one  rotten  borough,  one  the  most  rotten 
too,  and  with  another  still  more  rotten  tip  tipon 
the  hill,  in  Reigate  and  close  by  Gatton,  how 
can  I  help  reflecting,  how  can  my  mind  be  other- 
wise than  filled  with  reflections  on  the  marvellous 
deeds  of  the  collective  wisdom  of  the  nation  ?  " 
These  privileges  doubled  the  value  of  the  property, 
and  when  Lord  Monson  bought  Gatton  Park  in 


no 


REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 


■^4*'* 


^-=.    Gi.nonTownHaU    M 


GATTON    TOWN    HALL. 


1830,  he  paid  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  for 
the  place  ;  but  the  days  of  close  boroughs  were 
already  numbered,  and  less  than  two  years  after- 
wards the  Reform  Bill  deprived  Gatton  of  both 
its  members.  The  little  town  hall  of  Gatton, 
where  the  important  ceremony  of  electing  two 
representatives  to  serve  in  Parliament  was  per- 
formed, is  still  standing,  an  interesting  relic  of 
bygone  days,  on  a  mound  in  the  park,  almost 
hidden  by  large  chestnut  trees. 


GATTON    HOUSE  III 

Gatton  House  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the 
marble  hall  built  by  the  same  Lord  Monson  in 
imitation  of  the  Orsini  Chapel  at  Rome,  and 
adorned  with  rich  marbles  which  he  had  brought 
from  Italy.  The  collection  of  pictures,  formed 
by  the  same  nobleman,  contains  several  good 
Dutch  and  Italian  pictures,  including  the  "  Vierge 
au  bas-relief,"  a  graceful  Holy  Family,  which 
takes  its  name  from  a  small  carved  tablet  in  the 
background.  It  was  long  held  to  be  an  early 
work  by  the  great  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  was 
purchased  by  Lord  Monson  of  Mr.  Woodburn 
for  ;!f4,ooo,  but  is  now  generally  attributed  to 
his  pupil,  Cesare  da  Sesto. 

Like  so  many  of  the  churches  we  have  already 
mentioned,  like  Scale  and  Wanborough,  and  the 
chapels  of  St.  Katherine  and  St.  Martha,  like 
the  old  church  at  Titsey  and  the  present  one  at 
Chevening,  Gatton  was  originally  a  Pilgrims' 
church.  Now  it  has  little  that  is  old  to  show, 
for  it  was  restored  by  Lord  Monson  in  1831,  and 
adorned  with  a  variety  of  treasures  from  all  parts 
of  the  Continent.  The  stained  glass  comes  from 
the   monastery   of  Aerschot,   near   Louvain,   the 


112  REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 

altar-rails  from  Tongres,  the  finely  carved  choir- 
stalls  and  canopies  from  Ghent,  and  the  altar 
and  pulpit  from  Nuremberg.  Like  most  of  the 
mediaeval  wood-work  and  glass  which  has  come 
to  England  from  that  "  Quaint  old  town  of  toil 
and  traffic,  Quaint  old  town  of  art  and  song," 
these  last  are  said  to  have  been  designed  by 
the  great  master  of  the  Franconian  city,  Albert 
Diirer. 

The  Pilgrims'  Way,  as  has  been  already  said, 
runs  through  Gatton  Park,  and  brings  us  out 
close  to  Merstham,  and  through  lanes  shaded 
with  fine  oaks  and  beeches  we  reach  the  pretty 
little  village,  with  its  old  timbered  cottages  and 
still  older  church  buried  in  the  woods.  Local 
writers  of  the  last  century  frequently  allude  to 
the  Pilgrims'  Road  as  passing  through  this  parish, 
although  its  exact  course  is  not  easy  to  trace.  It 
seems,  however,  certain  that  the  track  passed 
near  Lord  Hylton's  house,  and  south  of  the 
church,  which  stands  close  by.  In  mediaeval 
times,  Merstham  formed  part  of  the  vast  estates 
held  by  the  monks  of  Christ  Church,  Canterbury, 
and  was  bestowed  upon  them  by  Athelstan,  a  son 


MERSTHAM 


113 


Metiltiam  M 


MERSTHAM    CHURCH, 


of  Ethelred  the  Unready,  in  the  tenth  century. 
There  was  a  church  here  at  the  time  of  the 
Norman  Conquest,  but  the  only  portion  of  the 
present  building  dating  from  that  period  is  a 
fine  old  square  Norman  font  which,  like  several 
others  in  the  neighbourhood,  is  of  Sussex  marble. 
Of  later  date,  there  is  much  that  is  extremely 
interesting.  The  tower  and  the  west  door  are 
Early  English,  and  the  chancel  arch  is  adorned 
8 


114  REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 

with  curious  acanthus-leaf  mouldings,  while  the 
porch  and  chancel  are  Late  Perpendicular. 

After  passing  Merstham  Church  the  track  is 
lost  in  a  medley  of  roads  and  railway  cuttings, 
but  soon  the  line  of  yews  appears  again,  climb- 
ing the  crest  of  the  hill,  and  can  be  followed 
for  some  distance  along  White  Hill,  or  Quarry 
Hangers,  as  these  downs  are  commonly  called. 
The  next  object  of  interest  which  it  passes  is  the 
War  Camp,  or  Cardinal's  Cap,  as  it  is  sometimes 
termed,  an  old  British  earthwork  on  the  face  of 
the  chalk  escarpment.  Then  the  path  turns  into 
a  wood,  and  we  leave  it  to  descend  on  Godstone. 
This  is  a  fascinating  spot  for  artists.  The  low 
irregular  houses  are  grouped  round  a  spacious 
green  and  goose-pond,  shaded  by  fine  horse- 
chestnuts,  and  there  is  a  charming  inn,  the 
White  Hart  or  Clayton  Arms,  with  gabled  front 
and  large  bay-windows  of  the  good  old-fashioned 
type.  "A  beautiful  village,"  wrote  Cobbett, 
ninety  years  ago,  "chiefly  of  one  street,  with  a 
fine  large  green  before  it,  and  with  a  pond  in 
the  green ; "  and  he  goes  on  to  speak  of  the 
neatness  of  the  gardens  and  of  the  double  violets. 


GODSTONE 


115 


THE   WHITE   HART,    GODSTONE. 


"  as  large  as  small  pinks,"  which  grew  in  the 
garden  of  this  same  inn,  and  of  which  the 
landlady  was  good  enough  to  give  some  roots. 
Happily  for  his  peace  of  mind,  he  adds,  **  The 
vile  rotten  borough  of  Bletchingley,  which  lies 
under  the  downs  close  by,  is  out  of  sight." 

From  Godstone  it  is  a  pleasant  walk  over 
the  open  commons,  along  the  top  of  the  ridge, 
looking  over  the  Weald   of   Sussex  and   across 


ii6 


REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 


Ox  re  J  M 


OLD   HOUSE   IN    OXTED, 


the  valleys  of  Sevenoaks  and  Tunbridge  to  the 
Kentish  hills.  Once  more  we  track  the  line  of 
the  Pilgrims'  Way  as  it  emerges  from  the  woods 
above  the  Godstone  quarries  and,  passing  under 
Winder's  Hill  and  by  Marden  Park,  reaches  a 
wood  called  Palmer's  Wood.     The  name  is  sigf- 

o 

nificant,  more  especially  since  there  is  no  record 
of  any  owner  who  bore  that  name.  Here  its 
course  is  very  clearly  defined,  and  when,  in  the 
autumn  of  1890,  pipes  for  carrying  water  out 
of  the  hill  were  laid  down,  a  section  of  the  old 


OXTED 


117 


0-0~. ^ 


r^^^ai^^^- s^.p,,,  ,.j^_;,  r,^ 


OXTED   CHURCH. 


paved  road  was  cut  across.  A  little  farther  on, 
at  Limpsfield  Lodge  Farm,  just  on  the  edge  of 
Titsey  park,  it  formed  the  farm  road  till  1875. 
At  this  point  the  path  was  ten  feet  wide,  and 
the  original  hedges  remained.  Before  entering 
the  park  of  Titsey,  the  way  runs  through  part 
of  Oxted  parish,  where  a  spring  still  bears  the 
name  of  St.  Thomas's  Well,  and  then  reaches 
Titsey  Place. 

Few  places  in  this  part  of  Surrey  are  more 
attractive  than  this  old  home  of  the  Greshams. 
The  purity  of  the  air,  praised  by  Aubrey  long 


8 


* 


Il8  REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 

ago  for  its  sweet,  delicate,  and  wholesome 
virtues,  the  health-giving  breezes  of  the  sur- 
rounding downs  and  commons,  the  natural  love- 
liness of  the  place,  and  the  taste  with  which 
the  park  and  gardens  have  been  laid  out,  all 
help  to  make  Titsey  a  most  delightful  spot.  Its 
beautiful  woods  stretch  along  the  grassy  slopes 
of  Botley  Hill,  and  the  clump  of  trees  on  the 
heights  known  as  Cold-harbour  Green  is  88 1  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  marks  the  loftiest  point  in  the 
whole  range  of  the  North  Downs.  Wherever 
the  eye  rests,  one  ridge  of  wooded  hill  after  the 
other  seems  to  rise  and  melt  away  into  the 
soft  blue  haze.  Nor  is  there  any  lack  of  other 
attractions  to  invite  the  attention  of  scholar 
and  antiquary.  The  place  is  full  of  historic 
associations.  A  whole  wealth  of  antiquities, 
coins,  urns,  and  pottery,  have  been  dug  up  in 
the  park,  and  some  remains  of  Roman  buildings 
were  discovered  there  a  few  years  ago,  close  to 
the  Pilgrims'  Way.  After  the  conquest  Titsey 
was  given  to  the  great  Earls  of  Clare,  who 
owned  the  property  at  the  time  of  the  Domesday 
Survey.     In   the   fourteenth  century  it  belonged 


THE    HOME   OF   THE   GRESHAMS  I  I9 

to  the  Uvedale  family,  and  two  hundred  years 
later  was  sold  to  Sir  John  Gresham,  an  uncle  of 
Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  the  illustrious  merchant 
of  Queen  Elizabeth's  court,  and  the  founder  of 
the  Royal  Exchange.  A  fine  portrait  of  Sir 
Thomas  himself,  by  Antonio  More,  now  hangs 
in  the  library  of  Titsey  Place.  Unfortunately  the 
Greshams  suffered  for  their  loyalty  to  Charles  I., 
and  after  the  death  of  the  second  Sir  Marmaduke 
Gresham  in  1742,  a  large  part  of  the  property 
was  sold.  His  son.  Sir  John,  succeeded  in 
partly  retrieving  the  fortunes  of  the  family,  and 
rebuilt  and  enlarged  the  old  manor-house,  which 
had  been  allowed  to  fall  into  a  ruinous  state. 
But  the  Tudor  arches  of  the  east  wing  still 
remain,  as  well  as  much  of  the  fine  oak  panelling 
which  adorned  its  walls  ;  and  the  crest  of  the 
Greshams,  a  grasshopper,  may  still  be  seen  in 
the  hall  chimney-piece.  The  present  owner, 
Mr.  Leveson-Gower,  is  a  lineal  descendant  of 
the  last  baronet,  and  inherited  Titsey  from  his 
great-grandmother  Katherine,  the  heiress  of  the 
Greshams.  The  fourteenth-century  church  was 
unluckily   pulled    down    a    hundred   years    ago. 


120 


REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 


^:iS■i''^^>:-.^^ 


BRASTED. 


because  Sir  John  Gresham  thought  it  stood  too 
near  his  own  house,  but  an  old  yew  in  the  garden 
and  some  tombstones  of  early  Norman  date  still 
mark  its  site.  The  course  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way 
through  the  Park  is  clearly  marked  by  a  double 
row  of  fine  ash  trees,  and  the  flint  stones  with 
which  the  road  itself  is  paved  may  still  be  seen 
under  the  turf.  Further  along  the  road  is  a  very 
old  farmhouse,  which  was  formerly  a  hostelry, 
and  still  bears  the  name  of  the  Pilgrims'  Lodge. 
From  Titsey  the  Way  runs  along  the  side  of  the 
hills,  under  Tatsfield   Church,   which  stands  on 


THE    MANOR   OF    CHEVENING  121 

the  summit  of  the  ridge,  and  about  a  mile  above 
the  pretty  little  towns  of  Westerham  and  Brasted. 
Here  the  boundary  of  the  counties  is  crossed,  and 
the  traveller  enters  Kent.  Soon  we  reach  the 
gates  of  Chevening  Park,  where,  as  at  Titsey, 
the  Pilgrims'  Way  formerly  passed  very  near 
the  house,  until  it  was  closed  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment in  1780. 

The  manor  of  Chevening,  originally  the 
property  of  the  See  of  Canterbury,  was  held  in 
the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  by  the 
family  of  Chevening,  from  whence  it  passed  to 
the  Lennards,  who  became  Barons  Dacre  and 
Earls  of  Sussex.  In  the  last  century  it  was 
bought  by  General  Stanhope,  the  distinguished 
soldier  and  statesman,  who,  after  reducing  the 
island  of  Minorca,  served  King  George  I.  suc- 
cessively as  Secretary  of  State  and  First  Lord  of 
the  Treasury.  Inigo  Jones  built  the  house  for 
Richard  Lennard,  Lord  Dacre,  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  but  since  then  it  has  under- 
gone such  extensive  alterations  that  little  of 
the  original  structure  remains,  and  the  chief 
interest  lies  in  a  valuable  collection  of  historical 


122  REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 

portraits,    including   those   of  the   Chesterfields, 
Stanhopes,  and  the  great  Lord  Chatham.     The 
last-named    statesman,    whose    daughter    Hester 
married   Charles,   Lord   Stanhope,   in    1774,   was 
a  frequent  visitor  at  Chevening,   and  is  said  to 
have    planned    the   beautiful    drive   which    leads 
through  the  woods   north  of  the  house   to   the 
top  of  the  downs.     The  little  village  of  Cheven- 
ing  lies   on    the    other    side    of   the    park,   just 
outside   Lord  Stanhope's  gates  and  close  to  the 
old  church  of  St.  Botolph,  which  was  one  of  the 
shrines  frequented  by  the  pilgrims  on  their  way 
to   Canterbury.      There    are    some   good    Early 
English  arches   in  the  nave  and  chancel,  and  a 
western  tower  of  Perpendicular  date.     The  south 
chapel  contains  many  imposing  sepulchral  monu- 
ments to  the  different  lords  of  the  manor.    Amongst 
them  are  those  of  John  Lennard,  who  was  sheriff 
of  the  county  and  held  several  offices  under  the 
crown  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  VHI.  and  Elizabeth, 
and   of    his    son    Sampson,    who   with    his   wife 
Margaret,  Lady  Dacre  in  her  own  right,  reposes 
under  a  sumptuous  canopy  of  alabaster  surrounded 
by  kneeling  effigies  of  their  children.     There  is 


CHEVENING   CHURCH. 


124  REIGATE    TO    CHEVENING 

also  a  fine  black  marble  monument  to  the  memory 
of  James,  Earl  of  Stanhope,  the  prime  minister 
of  George  I.,  who  was  buried  here  with  great 
pomp  in  1 72 1.  He  was  actually  in  office  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  and  was  taken  ill  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  breathed  his  last  the  next  day. 
But  the  most  beautiful  tomb  here  is  Chantrey's 
effigy  of  Lady  Frederica  Stanhope  sleeping  with 
her  babe  in  her  arms,  and  an  expression  of  deep 
content  and  peace  upon  her  quiet  face. 

"  Storms  may  rush  in,  and  crimes  and  woes 
Deform  the  quiet  bovver  ; 
They  may  not  mar  the  deep  repose 
Of  that  immortal  flower." 


."/l^. 


4-^ 


■^~.'.'',i,;..'s"v  "'v;'vij,y  v>'' -•  ■•  ,  V- 


Ot|»td     M 


.All/.''  '  •" 


'^.^if/'^-    ^.. 


OXFORD    CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   VIII 


OTFORD    TO    WROTHAM 


We  have  followed  the  Pilgrims'  Way  over  Hamp- 
shire Downs  and  Surrey  hills  and  commons, 
through  the  woods  which  Evelyn  planted,  and 
along  the  ridge  where  Cobbett  rode.  We  have 
seen  the  track  become  overgrown  with  tangled 
shrubs  and  underwood,  and  disappear  altogether 
in  places.  We  have  lost  the  road  at  one  point 
in  the  fields,  to  find  it  again  half  a  mile  further; 
we  have  noted  the  regular  lines  of  yews  climbing 

125 


126  OTFORD    TO    WROTHAM 

Up  the  hill-side,  and  the  lonely  survivors  which 
are  left  standing  bare  and  desolate  in  the  middle 
of  the  corn-fields.  The  part  of  the  ancient  road 
on  which  we  are  now  entering  differs  in  several 
important  respects  from  its  earlier  course.  From 
the  time  the  Pilgrims'  Way  enters  Kent  its 
track  is  clearly  marked.  Already  we  have  fol- 
lowed its  line  through  Titsey  and  along  the 
downs  as  far  as  Chevening,  where  the  path, 
now  closed,  may  be  traced  through  Lord  Stan- 
hope's Park.  A  group  of  magnificent  old  yew 
trees  arrests  our  attention  just  beyond  Chevening, 
before  the  road  from  Sevenoaks  to  Bromley  is 
crossed.  Then  the  Way  descends  into  the  valley 
of  the  Darent,  an  excellent  trout-stream  which 
flows  north  through  this  chalk  district  to  join 
the  Thames  near  Dartford,  and  after  crossing  the 
ford  over  that  river,  regains  the  hills  at  Otford. 
From  this  place  it  runs  along  under  the  hill  in 
one  unbroken  line  all  the  way  to  Eastwell  Park, 
between  Ashford  and  Canterbury.  It  is  a  good 
bridle-way,  somewhat  grass-grown  in  places,  in 
others  enclosed  by  hedges,  and  still  used  by 
farmers    for   their   carts.      Before   toll-bars   were 


THE    UNFORGOTTEN    ROAD  I27 

abolished  there  was  a  good  deal  of  traffic  along 
this  part  of  the  Pilgrims'  Road,  which,  running 
as  it  does  parallel  with  the  turnpike  road  along 
the  valley  to  Ashford,  was  much  used  as  a  means 
of  evading  the  payment  of  toll.  This  cause  is 
now  removed,  and  excepting  for  an  occasional 
hunting-man  who  makes  use  of  the  soft  track 
along  the  hill-side,  or  a  camp  of  gipsies  sitting 
round  their  fire,  waggoners  and  ploughmen  are 
the  only  wayfarers  to  be  met  with  along  the 
Pilgrims'  Road.  But  the  old  name  still  clings 
to  the  track,  and  as  long  as  the  squires  of  Kent 
have  any  respect  for  the  traditions  of  the  past, 
any  particle  of  historic  sense  remaining,  they  will 
not  allow  the  Pilgrims'  Way  to  be  wiped  out. 

In  actual  beauty  of  scenery  this  portion  of 
the  Way  may  not  equal  the  former  part.  We 
miss  the  wild  loveliness  of  Surrey  commons,  the 
rare  picturesqueness  of  the  rolling  downs  round 
Guildford  and  Dorking,  but  this  Kentish  land 
has  a  charm  of  its  own,  which  grows  upon  you 
the  longer  you  know  it.  These  steep  slopes  and 
wooded  hollows,  these  grand  old  church  towers 
and  quaint  village  streets,  these  homesteads  with 


128  OXFORD    TO    WROTHAM 

their  vast  barns  of  massive  timber  and  tall 
chimney-stacks  overshadowed  with  oaks  and 
beeches,  cannot  fail  to  delight  the  eyes  of  all 
who  find  pleasure  in  rural  scenes.  And  all 
along  our  way  we  have  that  noble  prospect  over 
the  wide  plains  of  the  dim  blue  Weald,  which 
is  seldom  absent  from  our  eyes,  as  we  follow 
this  narrow  track  up  and  down  the  rugged  hill- 
side. In  historic  interest  and  precious  memorials 
of  the  past,  this  part  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way,  we 
need  hardly  say,  is  surpassingly  rich.  Endless 
are  the  great  names  and  stirring  events  which 
these  scenes  recall :  battlefields  where  memorable 
fights  were  fought  in  days  long  ago,  churches 
and  lands  that  were  granted  to  the  Archbishops 
or  Abbots  of  Canterbury  before  the  Conquest, 
manor-houses  which  our  kings  and  queens  have 
honoured  with  their  presence  in  the  days  of 
yore.  All  these  things,  and  many  more  of  equal 
interest  and  renown,  will  the  traveller  find  as  he 
follows  the  Pilgrims'  Way  along  the  chalk  hills 
which  form  the  backbone  of  Kent. 

The    first    resting-place   which    the   pilgrims 
would  find  on  this  part  of  their  route  would  be 


OXFORD  129 

the  Archbishop's  manor-house  at  Otford.  There 
were  no  less  than  fifteen  of  these  episcopal 
residences  in  different  parts  of  Kent,  Surrey, 
and  Sussex,  and  of  these,  three  lay  along  the 
Kentish  portion  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way.  The 
palace  at  Otford  possessed  an  especial  sanctity 
in  the  eyes  of  wayfarers  journeying  to  the  shrine 
of  St.  Thomas,  as  having  been  a  favourite  residence 
of  the  martyred  Archbishop  himself.  The  manor 
was  originally  granted  to  the  See  of  Canterbury 
in  791,  by  Offa,  king  of  Mercia,  who  defeated 
Aldric,  king  of  Kent,  at  Otford  in  773,  and 
conquered  almost  the  whole  province. 

More  than  two  hundred  years  later,  Otford 
was  the  scene  of  another  battle,  in  which  Edmund 
Ironside  defeated  the  Danes  under  Knut,  and  to 
this  day  bones  are  dug  up  in  the  meadow  which 
bears  the  name  of  Danefield.  From  the  tenth 
century  the  Archbishops  had  a  house  here,  and 
Otford  is  described  in  the  Domesday  Survey  as 
Terra  Archiepi  Cantnariensis.  So  it  remained 
until  Cranmer  surrendered  the  palace,  with  many 
other  of  his  possessions,  to  Henry  VIII.  The 
mediaeval  Archbishops  seem  to  have  had  an 
9 


130  OXFORD    TO    WROTHAM 

especial  affection  for  Otford,  and  spent  much  of 
their  time  at  this  pleasant  country  seat.  Arch- 
bishop Winchelsea  entertained  Edward  I.  in 
1300,  and  was  living  here  at  the  time  of  his 
death  thirteen  years  later,  when  his  remains  were 
borne  by  the  King's  command  to  Canterbury, 
and  buried  there  with  great  state.  Simon  Islip 
enclosed  the  park,  and  Archbishop  Deane  repaired 
the  walls  ;  but  the  whole  was  rebuilt  on  a  grander 
scale  by  Warham,  who  spent  upwards  of  thirty 
thousand  pounds  upon  the  house,  and  received 
Henry  VI I L  here  several  times  in  the  first  years 
of  his  reign. 

After  Otford  had  become  Crown  property,  the 
Archbishop's  manor-house  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  Sydneys  and  Smyths,  who  dismantled  the 
castle,  as  it  was  then  commonly  called,  and  allowed 
the  walls  to  fall  into  ruin.  Two  massive  octa- 
gonal towers  of  three  stories,  with  double  square- 
headed  windows,  and  a  fragment  of  a  cloister, 
now  used  as  farm  stables,  are  the  only  portions 
remaining.  These  evidently  formed  part  of  the 
outer  court,  and  are  good  specimens  of  fifteenth- 
century  brickwork.     The  tower  was  considerably 


BECKET  S   WELL  I3I 

higher  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  Hasted  describes 
the  ruins  as  covering  nearly  an  acre  of  ground. 
The  stones  of  the  structure  were  largely  used  in 
the  neighbouring  buildings,  and  the  Bull  Inn 
contains  a  good  deal  of  fine  oak  wainscoting,  and 
several  handsome  carved  mantelpieces,  which 
originally  belonged  to  the  castle.  Two  heads  in 
profile,  carved  in  oak  over  one  of  the  fireplaces, 
are  said  to  represent  Henry  VHI.  and  Katherine 
of  Aragon.  A  bath,  or  chamber,  paved  and 
lined  with  stone,  about  thirty  feet  long,  and  ten 
or  twelve  feet  deep,  not  far  from  the  ruins,  still 
bears  the  name  of  Becket's  Well.  Tradition 
ascribes  the  birth  of  the  spring  which  supplies 
it  to  St.  Thomas,  who,  finding  no  water  at 
Otford,  struck  the  hill-side  with  his  staff,  and  at 
once  brought  forth  a  clear  stream,  which  since 
then  has  never  been  known  to  fail.  Another 
legend  tells  how  the  Saint  one  day,  being  **  busie 
at  his  prayers  in  the  garden  at  Otford,  was  much 
disturbed  by  the  sweete  note  and  melodic  of  a 
nightingale  that  sang  in  a  bush  beside  him,  and 
in  the  might  of  his  holinesse  commanded  all  birds 
of  this  kind  to  be  henceforth  silent,"  after  which 


132  OTFORD    TO    WROTHAM 

the  nightingale  was  never  heard  at  Otford.  But 
with  the  decay  of  the  palace  and  the  departure 
of  the  Archbishops,  the  spell  was  broken  ;  and 
the  Protestant  Lambarde,  when  he  was  at  Otford, 
takes  pleasure  in  recording  how  many  nightin- 
gales he  heard  singing  thereabouts. 

From  Otford  the  Pilgrims'  Way  runs  along 
the  edge  of  the  hills  about  half  a  mile  above  the 
villages  of  Kemsing  and  Wrotham,  and  passes 
close  to  St.  Clere,  a  mansion  built  by  Inigo  Jones, 
where  Mrs.  Boscawen,  the  witty  correspondent  of 
Mrs.  Delany  and  the  friend  of  Johnson  and 
Boswell,  was  born.  Kemsing  still  retains  its  old 
church  and  well,  both  consecrated  to  the  memory 
of  the  Saxon  Princess,  St.  Edith,  whose  image  in 
the  churchyard  was,  during  centuries,  the  object  of 
the  peasants'  devout  veneration.  "  Some  seelie 
bodie,"  writes  Lambarde,  who  visited  these  shrines 
in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  delights  in  pour- 
ing contempt  on  the  old  traditions  of  these 
country  shrines,  "brought  a  peche  or  two,  or  a 
bushelle  of  corne,  to  the  churche  after  praiers 
made,  offered  it  to  the  image  of  the  saint.  Of 
this  offering  the  priest  used  to  toll  the  greatest 


THE   PORCH,    KEMSING   CHURCH. 


,* 


134  OTFORD    TO    WROTHAM 

portion,  and  then  to  take  one  handful  or  little 
more  of  the  residue  (for  you  must  consider  he 
woulde  bee  sure  to  gaine  by  the  bargaine),  the 
which,  after  aspersion  of  holy  water  and  the 
mumbling  of  a  fewe  words  of  conjuration,  he  first 
dedicated  to  the  image  of  Saint  Edith,  and  then 
delivered  it  backe  to  the  partie  that  brought  it ; 
who  departed  with  full  persuasion  that  if  he 
mingled  that  hallowed  handfull  with  his  seede 
corne,  it  would  preserve  from  harme  and  prosper 
in  growthe  the  whole  heape  that  he  should  sowe, 
were  it  never  so  great  a  stacke." 

Wrotham  was  the  site  of  another  of  the  Arch- 
bishops' manor-houses,  and  rivalled  Otford  in 
antiquity,  having  been  granted  to  the  See  of 
Canterbury  by  Athelstan  in  964.  Wrotham  was 
never  as  favourite  a  residence  with  the  Arch- 
bishops as  Otford,  but  they  stopped  here  fre- 
quently on  their  progresses  through  Kent,  until, 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  Simon  Islip  pulled 
down  the  house  to  supply  materials  for  the  build- 
ing of  his  new  palace  at  Maidstone.  A  terrace 
and  some  scanty  remains  of  the  offices  are  the 
only  fragments  now  to  be  seen  at  Wrotham,  but 


WROTHAM    CHURCH 


135 


the  charming  situation  of  the  village  in  the  midst 
of  luxuriant  woods,  and  the  beauty  of  the  view 
over  the  Weald  from  Wrotham  Hill,  attract  many 


WrorkAm    CkurtU      M 


WROTHAM    CHURCH. 


visitors.  The  church  has  several  features  of 
architectural  interest,  including  a  handsome  rood- 
screen  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  awatching- 
chamber  over  the  chancel,  as  well  as  a  curious 
archway   under   the  tower,  which   was   probably 


136  OXFORD    TO    WROTHAM 

used  as  a  passage  for  processions  from  the 
Palace.  It  contains  many  tombs  and  brasses, 
chiefly  of  the  Peckham  family,  who  held  the 
manor  of  Yaldham  in  this  parish  for  upwards  of 
five  hundred  years.  Below  the  church  is  Wrotham 
Place,  a  fine  old  Tudor  house  with  a  corridor 
and  rooms  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  a  charm- 
ing garden  front  bearing  the  date  1560.  Fair- 
lawn,  the  ancestral  home  of  the  Vanes,  also  lies 
in  a  corner  of  Wrotham  parish,  and  a  terrace, 
bordered  with  close-clipped  yew  hedges,  and  sur- 
rounded by  sunny  lawns,  where  peacocks  spread 
their  tails  over  the  grass,  is  still  pointed  out 
as  a  favourite  walk  of  that  stout  old  regicide, 
Sir  Harry  Vane.  Ightham,  with  its  famous  Mote, 
so  perfect  a  picture  of  an  old  English  house, 
is  close  by,  within  a  walk  of  Wrotham  station, 
but  lies,  unluckily,  on  the  opposite  side  from 
the  line  of  hills  along  which  our  path  takes  us. 


MAHTHOI    ,aTOM    MHT 


^'i    piuucbbiuiii    from    the 
t  c  many  tor  '  1  brasses, 

of    the   Pec  amily,   who   b 

>r  of  Yc  lis  parish  for  upwards  of 

'      idred  year^     "R^.i^^y  t^g  ch.^_  ^^^'-'^tharn 

L'i  ''  '  '     ise  wiin  a  coi  '  ' "  ■ 

.'■^d  room:  century,  and  a  cl 

mg  ga;  front   b  Fair-. 

lavv-r  _^._ v'^anes,  also  lif^^ 

-'  ^^^-^^ '^     '-^d  a  teii^c^, 

:red 

their 


SO 


THE    MOTE,    IGHTHAM 


egicid' 


li; 


s  Moic, 
n  station 
"lonLj  wiiiuii  uui  ^'ijLLii  takes  us. 


WrofKim    laokifij  Stu'm     HH 


WROTHAM,    LOOKING   SOUTH. 


CHAPTER   IX 


WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 

The  Pilgrims'  Way  continues  its  course  over 
Wrotham  Hill  and  along  the  side  of  the  chalk 
downs.  This  part  of  the  track  is  a  good  bridle 
road,  with  low  grass  banks  or  else  hedges  on 
either  side,  and  commands  fine  views  over  the 
rich  Kentish  plains,  the  broad  valley  of  the 
Medway,  and  the  hills  on  the  opposite  shore. 
The  river  itself  glitters  in  the  sun,  but  as  we 
draw  nearer  the  beauty  of  the  prospect  is  sorely 
marred  by  the  ugly  chimneys  and  dense  smoke 
of  the  Snodland  limestone  works. 

137 


138  WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 

At  one  point  on  the  downs,  close  to  the  Vigo 
Inn,  a  few  hundred  yards  above  our  road,  there 
is  a  very  extensive  view  over  the  valley  of  the 
Thames,  ranging  from  Shooters'  Hill  to  Graves- 
end,  and  far  away  out  to  sea.  In  the  daytime 
the  masts  of  the  shipping  in  the  river  are  clearly 
seen.  At  night  the  Nore  lights  twinkle  like  stars 
in  the  distance.  The  height  of  these  downs  is 
close  on  700  feet,  that  of  Knockholt  is  783  feet. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  Medway  the  chalk  range 
is  considerably  lower,  and  the  highest  points  are 
above  Detling,  657  feet,  Hollingbourne,  606  feet, 
and  Charing,  640  feet. 

The  Way  now  runs  past  Pilgrims'  house, 
formerly  the  Kentish  Drovers'  Inn,  above  the 
old  church  and  village  of  Trottescliffe  (Trosley) 
and  the  megalithic  stones  known  as  Coldrum 
circle,  one  of  the  best  preserved  cromlechs  along 
the  road.  Further  on  a  short  lane  leads  south 
to  Birling  Place,  the  ancient  home  of  the  Nevills, 
who  have  owned  the  estate  since  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  while  in  a  group  of  old 
farm  buildings  at  Paddlesworth  (formerly  Pauls- 
ford)  we  find  the  remains  of  a  Norman  Pilgrims' 


< 

H 

o 
a! 

D 
m 

K 

H 


#1 


140 


WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 


^^    P    -    i^      I. 


ilW 


1  ^''v;;,,, 


■',£<--  -^ 


Tiittiici.;i.  M 


TROTTESCLIFFE. 


Chapel,  with  a  fine  Early  English  arch.  The 
track  now  crosses  a  large  field  and  enters  Snod- 
land,  an  old  town  containing  many  Roman 
remains,  and  an  interesting  church,  but  sadly 
disfigured  by  cement  works  and  paper  factories. 

Here  the  pilgrims  left  the  hills  to  descend 
into  the  valley  below.  Twice  before,  at  Shalford 
and  Dorking,  they  had  crossed  the  rivers  which 
make  their  way  through  the  chalk  range ;  now 
they  had  reached  the  third  great  break  in  the 
downs,  and  the  broad  stream  of  the  Medway  lay 


FORD    PLACE 


141 


1^ 


N^ 


j^lVv-^^^l^' 


'^^.rf- 


^V' 


FORD    PLACE,    NEAR    WROTHAM. 


at  their  feet.  They  might,  if  they  pleased,  go  on 
to  Rochester,  three  miles  higher  up,  and  join  the 
road  taken  by  the  London  pilgrims  along  the 
Watling  Street  to  Canterbury  —  the  route  of 
Chaucer's  pilgrimage.  But  most  of  them,  it 
appears,  preferred  to  follow  the  hills  to  which 
they  had  clung  so  long. 

The  exact  point  where  they  crossed  the  river 
has  been  often  disputed.  According  to  the  old 
maps  it  was  by  the  ford  at   Cuxton,  where  the 


142  WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 

river  was  shallow  enough  to  allow  of  their 
passage.  From  Bunker's  Farm,  immediately 
above  Birling,  a  road  diverges  northwards  to 
Cuxton  and  Rochester,  and  was  certainly  used 
by  many  of  the  pilgrims.  At  Upper  Hailing,  on 
this  track,  we  may  still  see  the  lancet  windows 
of  a  pilgrims'  shrine  formerly  dedicated  to 
St.  Laurence,  which  have  been  built  into  some 
cottages  known  as  Chapel  houses.  The  Bishops 
of  Rochester,  who  held  this  manor  from  Eg- 
bert's days,  had  "a  right  fair  house"  at  Lower 
Hailing,  on  the  banks  of  the  Medway,  with 
a  vineyard  which  produced  grapes  for  King 
Henry  HL's  table.  This  pleasant  manor-house 
on  the  river  was  the  favourite  summer  residence 
of  Bishop  Hamo  de  Hethe,  who  built  a  new  hall 
and  chapel  in  the  reign  of  Edward  L,  and  placed 
his  own  statue  on  a  gateway  which  was  still 
standing  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Another 
interesting  house,  Whorne  Place,  lies  a  little 
higher  up,  on  the  banks  of  the  Medway,  where 
the  grass-grown  track  leading  from  Bunker's 
Farm  joins  the  main  road  to  Cuxton  and 
Rochester.      This   fine   brick    mansion    formerly 


MAIDSTONE  I43 

belonged  to  the  Levesons,  and  the  quarterings  of 
Sir  John  Leveson  and  his  two  wives  are  to  be 
seen  above  the  central  porch. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  a  great  number  of 
pilgrims  seem  to  have  stopped  at  Maidstone, 
where,  in  1261,  Archbishop  Boniface  built  a 
hospital  for  their  reception  on  the  banks  of  the 
Medway.  The  funds  which  supported  this  hos- 
pital, the  Newark — New-work,  Novi  operis,  as  it 
was  called — were  diverted  by  Archbishop  Cour- 
tenay,  a  hundred  and  forty  years  later,  to  the 
maintenance  of  his  new  college  of  All  Saints,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  but  a  remnant  of 
the  older  foundation  is  still  preserved  in  the 
beautiful  Early  English  Chancel  of  St.  Peters 
Church,  which  was  originally  attached  to  Boni- 
face's hospital,  and  is  still  known  as  the  Pilgrims' 
Chapel.  By  the  time  that  Archbishop  Courtenay 
founded  his  college,  the  stream  of  pilgrims  had 
greatly  diminished,  and  the  hostel  which  had 
been  intended  for  their  resting-place  was  rapidly 
sinking  into  a  common  almshouse.  Maidstone, 
too,  no  doubt,  lay  considerably  out  of  the  pilgrims' 
course,  and  the  great  majority  naturally  preferred 


144 


WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 


'3  .-3^ 


£  .-^1   -^'T./ 


«^^- il  < 


'V*^^ 


^<M 


THE   FRIARY,    AYLESFORD, 


to  cross  the  Medway  by  the  ferry  at  Snodland. 
Others  again  might  choose  Aylesford,  which  lay 
a  mile  or  two  below.  At  this  ancient  town,  the 
Eglesford  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  there  was  a 


KITS   COTY    HOUSE  I45 

stone  bridge  across  the  river,  and  a  Carmelite 
Priory  founded  in  1240  by  Richard  de  Grey,  on 
his  return  from  the  Crusades,  where  the  pilgrims 
would  be  sure  to  find  shelter.  But  even  if  they 
did  not  cross  the  Medway  at  this  place,  where 
the  old  church  stands  so  picturesquely  on  its 
high  bank  overhanging  river  and  red  roofs,  the 
pilgrims  certainly  passed  through  the  parish 
of  Aylesford.  For  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the 
ferry  at  Snodland  the  familiar  line  of  yew  trees 
appears  again,  ascending  the  hill  by  Burham 
church,  and  runs  through  the  upper  part  of 
Aylesford  parish,  close  to  the  famous  dolmen  of 
Kits  Coty  House.  This  most  interesting  sepul- 
chral monument,  Ked-coit — Celtic  for  the  Tomb 
in  the  Wood — consists  of  three  upright  blocks  of 
sandstone  about  eight  feet  high  and  eight  feet 
broad,  with  a  covering  stone  of  eleven  feet  which 
forms  the  roof,  and  is  one  of  a  group  of  similar 
remains  which  lie  scattered  over  the  hill-side  and 
are  locally  known  as  the  Countless  Stones.  We 
have  here,  in  fact,  a  great  cemetery  of  the  Druids 
which  once  extended  for  many  miles  on  both 
sides  of  the  river.  Deep  pits  dug  out  in  the 
10 


146  WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 

chalk,  filled  with  flints  and  covered  with  slabs 
of  stone,  have  been  discovered  on  Aylesford 
Common,  and  a  whole  avenue  of  stones  formerly- 
connected  this  burial  place  with  the  cromlechs  at 
Addington,  six  miles  off.  Here,  if  the  old  legend 
be  true,  was  fought  the  great  battle  which  decided 
the  fate  of  Britain,  and  gave  England  into  the 
hands  of  the  English.  For  at  this  place,  the 
old  chroniclers  say,  about  the  year  455,  the  Saxon 
invaders  stopped  on  their  march  to  the  Castle 
of  Rochester,  and  turning  southwards  met  the 
Britons  in  that  deadly  fray,  when  both  Kentigern 
and  Horsa  were  left  dead  on  the  field  of  battle. 
Ancient  military  entrenchments  are  still  visible 
on  the  hill-side  near  Kits  Coty  House,  and  a 
boulder  on  the  top  was  long  pointed  out  as  the 
stone  on  which  Hengist  was  proclaimed  the  first 
king  of  Kent. 

About  a  mile  from  this  memorable  spot,  in 
the  plains  at  the  foot  of  the  downs,  was  a  shrine 
which  no  pilgrim  of  mediaeval  days  would  leave 
unvisited,  the  Cistercian  Abbey  of  Boxley,  then 
generally  known  as  the  Abbatia  S.  Crucis  de 
Gracias,  the  Abbey  of  the  Holy  Rood  of  Grace. 


.-loaiaa  aao^c-a.iYA 


O    HOLLINGBOURNE 


a   w  and  covered  with  slabs 

e,    have  been    discovered  Aylesford 

non,  and  a  whole  avenue  of  stones  formerly 

,riTcv.^va  this  .^>.w<.,        "^  " 'th  th^  ^,>  .^mlechs  at 

Addingtor     *         '  >  oii.     nc^re,  if  the  old  legend 

be  true,  was  tlewhic'  .d 

ain,  ^  ad  into  the 

iHi'^h-     For  at  thi~    place,  the 
^ciY.  au.-M.lL  uiie  year  ^         he  Saxon 

lo  me  Castle 

met  the 

ventigern 

...  of  battle. 

still  visible 

House,  and  a 

;  out  as  the 

...aed  the  first 


'>' 


.aciers  slopped  on   ■ 
of  R 

tons  in  that 


AYLESFORD    bRIDGL 


on  ti 


stc- 


T/ 


irom  iTiis  i  rable  s: 

downs,  was  a  shrine 

rrim  of  mediaeval  days  W(  e 

Jistercian  Abbey  of  BoXi^_^,  ....^n 

uiuvvn  as  the   Abbatia   S.   Crucis   de 

•'      ^^  ^     -^      •     -      -ace. 


"'^.v, 


BOXLEY   ABBEY 


147 


tu 


Mm 


'M 


Vei'X'O,''*^  . 


k.  ('V!, 


Kit*  CoTbij  House  M 


T/'^''> 


KITS    COTY    HOUSE. 


Not  only  was  Boxley,  next  to  Waverley  Abbey, 
the  oldest  Cistercian  house  founded  on  this  side 
of  the  Channel,  \.\it  fill  a  propria  of  the  great  house 
of  Clairvaux,  but  the  convent  church  rejoiced  in 
the  possession  of  two  of  the  most  celebrated 
wonder-working  relics  in  all  England.  There 
was  the  image  of  St.  Rumbold,  that  infant  child 
of  a  Saxon  prince  who  proclaimed  himself  a 
Christian  the  moment  of  his  birth,  and  after 
three  days  spent  in  edifying  his  pagan  hearers, 


148  WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 

departed  this  life.  This  image  could  only  be 
lifted  by  the  pure  and  good,  and  having  a  hidden 
spring,  which  could  be  worked  by  the  hands  or 
feet  of  the  monks,  was  chiefly  influenced  by 
the  amount  of  the  coin  that  was  paid  into  their 
hands.  And  there  was  that  still  greater  marvel, 
the  miraculous  Rood,  or  winking  image,  a  wooden 
crucifix  which  rolled  its  eyes  and  moved  its  lips 
in  response  to  the  devotees  who  crowded  from  all 
parts  of  England  to  see  the  wondrous  sight. 
The  clever  mechanism  of  this  image,  said  to  have 
been  invented  by  an  English  prisoner  during  his 
captivity  in  France,  was  exposed  by  Henry  VIII.'s 
commissioners  in  1538,  who  discovered  "  certayn 
ingyns  of  old  wyer  with  olde  roten  stykkes  in 
the  back  of  the  same,"  and  showed  them  to  the 
people  of  Maidstone  on  market-day,  after  which 
the  Rood  of  Grace  was  taken  to  London  and 
solemnly  broken  in  pieces  at  Paul's  Cross.  The 
Abbey  of  Boxley  owned  vast  lands,  and  the  Abbots 
were  frequently  summoned  to  Parliament,  and 
lived  in  great  state.  Among  the  royal  guests 
whom  they  entertained  was  King  Edward  II., 
whose  visit  was  made  memorable  by  the  letter  which 


CISTERCIAN    EXTRAVAGANCE 


149 


■'v.-.;;!,,- 


•o<;^^ 


I 


LcoK-nf  W«»t    tf^  «.l>av«    ^o■<l•.J  Alutiij    ^ 


--^'I'l^'- 


'jCo 


LOOKING    WEST    FROM    ABOVE    BOXLEY    ABBEY. 

he  addressed  from  Boxley  Abbey  to  the  Aldermen 
of  the  City  of  London,  granting  them  the  right 
of  electing  a  Lord  Mayor.  At  one  time  their  ex- 
travagance brought  them  to  the  verge  of  ruin, 
as  we  learn  from  a  letter  which  Archbishop 
Warham  addressed  to  Cardinal  Wolsey  ;  but  at 
the  dissolution  the  Commissioners  could  find  no 
cause  of  complaint  against  the  monks,  excepting 
the  profusion  of  flowers  in  the  convent  garden, 
which  made  them  comment  on  the  waste  of  turn- 
ing "  the  rents  of  the  monastery  into  gillyflowers 


10 


* 


150  WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 

and  roses."  The  foundations  of  the  church  where 
the  Cistercians  showed  off  their  "  sotelties  "  may 
still  be  traced  in  the  gardens  of  the  house  built 
by  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  on  the  site  of  the  abbey. 
Here  some  precious  fragments  of  the  ruins  are 
still  preserved.  The  chapel  of  St.  Andrew,  which 
stood  near  the  great  gateway,  has  been  turned 
into  cottages,  and  the  noble  "guesten-house,"  where 
strangers  were  lodged,  is  now  a  barn.  The  old 
wall  remains  to  show  the  once  vast  extent  of  the 
Abbey  precincts.  Now  these  grey  stones  are 
mantled  with  thick  bushes  of  ivy,  and  a  fine 
clump  of  elm  trees  overshadows  the  red-tiled  roof 
of  the  ancient  guest-house  in  the  meadows,  but 
we  look  in  vain  for  poor  Abbot  John's  gillyflowers 
and  roses. 

Between  Boxley  Abbey  and  Maidstonestretches 
the  wide  common  of  Penenden  Heath,  famous 
from  time  immemorial  as  the  place  where  all 
great  county  meetings  were  held.  Here  the 
Saxons  held  their  **  gemotes,"  and  here  in  1076, 
was  that  memorable  assembly  before  which 
Lanfranc  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  Church  of 
Canterbury  against  Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  Earl 


BOXLEY  151 

of  Kent,  the  Conqueror's  half-brother,  who  had 
defrauded  Christ  Church  of  her  rights,  and  laid 
violent  hands  on  many  of  her  manors  and  lands. 
Not  only  were  the  Kentish  nobles  and  bishops 
summoned  to  try  the  cause,  but  barons  and  dis- 
tinguished ecclesiastics,  and  many  men  "of  great 
and  good  account,"  from  all  parts  of  England 
and  Normandy,  were  present  that  day.  Godfrey, 
Bishop  of  Coutances,  represented  the  King,  and 
Agelric,  the  aged  Bishop  of  Chester,  "  an  ancient 
man  well  versed  in  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
realm,"  was  brought  there  in  a  chariot  by  the 
King's  express  command.  Three  days  the  trial 
lasted,  during  which  Lanfranc  pleaded  his  cause 
so  well  against  the  rapacious  Norman  that  the 
see  of  Canterbury  recovered  its  former  possessions, 
and  saw  its  liberties  firmly  established. 

The  village  and  church  of  Boxley  (Bose-leu 
in  Domesday),  so  called  from  the  box  trees  that 
grow  freely  along  the  downs,  as  at  Box  Hill,  are 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  beyond  the  Abbey,  and 
lie  on  the  sloping  ground  at  the  foot  of  the  hills, 
close  to  the  Pilgrims'  Way.  Old  houses  and 
timbered  barns,  with  lofty  gables   and   irregular 


152  WROTHAM    TO    HOLLINGBOURNE 

roofs,  are  grouped  round  the  church,  which  is 
itself  as  picturesque  an  object  as  any,  with  its 
massive  towers  and  curious  old  red-tiled  Galilee 
porch.  Next  we  reach  Detling,  a  small  village, 
prettily  situated  on  the  slope  of  the  hills,  with 
a  church  containing  a  rare  specimen  of  mediaeval 
wood-work  in  the  shape  of  a  carved  oak  reading- 
desk,  enriched  with  pierced  tracery  of  the 
Decorated  period.  We  pass  Thurnham,  with  the 
foundations  of  its  Saxon  castle  high  up  on  the 
downs,  and  then  enter  Hollingbourne.  As  Boxley 
reminds  us  of  the  box  trees  on  the  hill-side, 
and  Thurnham  of  the  thorn  trees  in  the  wood, 
so  Hollingbourne  owes  its  name  to  the  hollies  on 
the  burn  or  stream  which  runs  through  the  parish. 
William  Cobbett,  whose  memory  has  followed  us 
all  the  way  from  the  Itchen  valley,  describes  how 
he  rode  over  Hollingbourne  Hill  on  his  return 
from  Dover  to  the  Wen,  and  from  the  summit  of 
that  down,  one  of  the  highest  in  this  neighbour- 
hood, looked  down  over  the  fair  Kentish  land, 
which  in  its  richness  and  beauty  seemed  to  him 
another  Garden  of  Eden. 


ysjxoa  H/.avT  .vajHAOd   r/  du/mrj 


;FOT  T,TNGr?OTrRMK 

grouped  round  the  church, 
picturesque  an  object  as  any,  with  its 
V  towers  and  curious  old  red-tiled  Galilee 
I.     Next  we  reach  Detling,  a  small  village, 
prettily  situated  on  the  slope  of  the  hills,  with 
jjrch  containing  a  rare  specimen  of  mediaeval 
wood-work  in  the  shape  of  a  carved  oak  reading- 
desk,    enriched    with    pierced     tracery    of    the 
Decorated  period.     We  pass  Thurnham,  with  the 
foundations  of  its  Saxon  c--.  .;h  up  on  the 

''"•^v..^,  ^rid  t^i^T^  enter  ^  rne.    As  Boxley 

*  '  *'^      ^ill-side 

COTTAGE  AT  BOARLEY,  NEAR  BOXLEV'^^'  oiu«^, 

atid  ot    i'  the  wood, 

hollies  on 
the  parish. 
I...V-  ibllowed  us 
'    cribes  how 
n   his  return 
summit  of 
^' '  ?"        .  lis  neighbour- 
uic  i^ir  Kentish   land, 
which  in  its  nciinesb  ana  beauty  seemed  to  him 

len. 


i-\ 


^t■=' 


he 

rode 

fro 

m  Do' 

^^er 

to  t. 

f- 

s    »  ^          ^ 

jjr   ni' 

1,,. 

1 

iiuua,    iU' 


CHAPTER   X 

HOLLINGBOURNE   TO    LENHAM 

The  village  of  Hollingbourne  lies  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  and  an  old  inn  at  the  corner  of  the 
Pilgrims'  Road,  now  called  the  King's  Head,  was 
formerly  known  by  the  name  of  the  Pilgrims'  Rest. 
The  history  of  Hollingbourne  is  full  of  interest. 
The  manor  was  granted  to  the  church  at  Canter- 
bury, "  for  the  support  of  the  monks,"  by  young 
Athelstan,  the  son  of  ^thelred  H.,  in  the  year 
980,  and  was  retained  by  the  monastery  when 
Lanfranc  divided  the  lands  belonging  to  Christ 
Church  between  the  priory  and  the  see.  It  is 
described  in  Domesday  as  Terra  Monachorimi 
Archiepi,  the  land  of  the  monk  and  the  Arch- 
bishop; in  later  records  as  Manoritmi  Monachorum 
et  de  cibo  eorimi,  a  manor  of  the  monks  and  for 
their  food.     The  Priors  of  Christ  Church  held 

153 


154  HOLLINGBOURNE    TO    LENHAM 

their  courts  here,  and  the  convent  records  tell  us 
that  Prior  William  Sellyng  greatly  improved  the 
Priory  rooms  at  Hollingbourne.  Their  residence 
probably  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  manor- 
house.  This  handsome  red-brick  building,  rich 
in  gables  and  mullions,  in  oak  panelling  and 
secret  hiding-places,  was  built  in  Queen  Elizabeth's 
reign  by  the  great  Kentish  family  of  the  Culpepers, 
who  at  that  time  owned  most  of  the  parish. 
More  than  one  fragment  of  the  earlier  house, 
encased  in  the  Elizabethan  building,  has  been 
brought  to  light,  and  a  pointed  stone  archway  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  an  old  fireplace  with 
herring-bone  brickwork,  have  lately  been  dis- 
covered. Many  are  the  interesting  traditions 
which  belong  to  this  delightful  old  manor-house. 
The  yews  in  the  garden  are  said  to  have  been 
planted  by  Queen  Elizabeth  on  one  of  her  royal 
progresses  through  Kent,  when  she  stayed  at 
Leeds  Castle,  and  was  the  guest  of  Sir  Henry 
Wotton  at  Boughton  Malherbe.  According  to 
another  very  old  local  tradition,  Katherine  Howard, 
whose  mother  was  a  Culpeper,  spent  some  years 
here  as  a  girl,  and   the  ghost  of  that  unhappy 


c 

o 

-3r. 


V- 


■1;   ^      = 

\  ■■:  %*=  \ 

'    '^^^ 

llH-\  ^     ^=\  — 

•   '  -    tv 

/    •■  V  C\ 


C/3 

O 

o 

CO 
O 


156  HOLLINGBOURNE    TO    LENHAM 

queen  is  said  to  haunt  one  of  the  upper  chambers 
of  the  house.  Another  room,  called  the  Needle- 
Room,  was  occupied  during  the  Commonwealth 
by  the  daughters  of  that  faithful  loyalist,  John 
Lord  Culpeper,  Frances,  Judith,  and  Philippa, 
who  employed  the  weary  years  of  their  father's 
exile  in  embroidering  a  gorgeous  altar-cloth  and 
hangings,  which  they  presented  to  the  parish 
church  on  the  happy  day  when  the  king  came 
back  to  enjoy  his  own  again.  The  tapestries, 
worked  by  the  same  deft  fingers,  which  once 
adorned  the  chambers  of  the  manor-house,  are 
gone,  and  the  hangings  of  the  reading-desk  in 
the  church  have  been  cut  up  into  a  frontal,  but 
the  altar-cloth  remains  absolutely  intact,  and  is 
one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  embroidery  of  the  kind 
in  England.  Both  design  and  colouring  are 
of  the  highest  beauty.  On  a  ground  of  violet 
velvet,  bordered  with  a  frieze  of  cherub  heads, 
we  see  the  twelve  mystic  fruits  of  the  Tree  of 
Life — the  grape,  orange,  cherry,  apple,  plum,  pear, 
mulberry,  acorn,  peach,  medlar,  quince,  and 
pomegranate.  The  richest  hues  of  rose  and  green 
are  delicately  blended   together,  and  their  effect 


SEATS   OF  THE    CULPEPERS  I57 

is  heightened  by  the  gold  thread  in  which  the 
shading  is  worked.  The  lapse  of  two  centuries 
and  a  half  has  not  dimmed  the  brightness  of 
their  colours,  which  are  as  fresh  as  if  the  work 
had  been  finished  yesterday.  A  needle  which 
had  been  left  in  a  corner  of  the  altar-cloth  all 
those  long  years  ago  was  still  to  be  seen  sticking 
in  the  velvet  early  in  the  last  century,  but  has 
now  disappeared. 

This  goodly  manor-house  was  only  one  of 
several  seats  belonging  to  the  Culpepers  in  this 
neighbourhood.  They  had  a  mansion  at  Green- 
way  Court,  which  was  burnt  down  in  the  last 
century,  and  another  of  imposing  dimensions 
where  Grove  Court  now  stands.  In  the  seventeenth 
century  the  Lords  Culpeper  also  owned  Leeds 
Castle,  that  noble  moated  house,  a  mile  to  the 
south,  which  was  once  a  royal  park,  and  is  still 
one  of  the  finest  places  in  Kent.  But  the  second 
Lord  Culpeper  died  without  a  male  heir  in  1688, 
and  this  famous  house  passed  by  marriage  into 
the  Fairfax  family.  The  Hollingbourne  branch 
of  the  Culpepers  died  out  in  the  course  of  the 
last  century,  and  at  the  present  time  no  member 


158  HOLLINGBOURNE    TO    LENHAM 

of  this  illustrious  family  is  known  to  exist  in 
England,  although  persons  bearing  this  ancient 
name  are  still  to  be  found  in  America.  The 
church  at  Hollingbourne  contains  a  whole  series 
of  Culpeper  monuments.  The  most  remarkable 
is  the  white  marble  altar-tomb,  which  bears  the 
recumbent  effigy  of  Elizabeth  Lady  Culpeper,  who 
died  in  1638,  and  is  described  in  the  inscription 
on  her  monument  as  Optima  Poemina,  Optima 
Conpix,  et  Optima  Mater.  This  lady  was  the 
heiress  of  the  Cheney  family,  whose  arms,  the  ox's 
hide  and  horns,  appear  on  the  shield  at  the 
foot  of  the  tomb,  and  are  repeated  in  the  stained 
glass  of  the  chapel  window.  Tradition  says  that 
Sir  John  Cheney  had  his  helmet  struck  off,  when 
he  fought  by  the  victor's  side  on  Bosworth  Field, 
and  fixed  a  bull's  horns  on  his  head  in  its  place. 
Afterwards  Henry  VII.  gave  him  this  crest,  when 
he  made  him  a  Baron  and  a  Knight  of  the  Garter, 
in  reward  for  his  valour  on  that  hard-fought  field. 
A  monument  on  the  north  wall  of  the  chancel 
records  the  memory  of  John  Lord  Culpeper,  who 
was  successively  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
Master  of  the    Rolls,    and    Privy   Councillor   to 


DAME    GRACE    GETHIN  159 

Charles  I.  and  Charles  II.  "For  equal  fidelity 
to  the  king  and  kingdome,"  says  the  epitaph  on 
his  tomb,  '*  he  was  most  exemplary."  He  followed 
the  last-named  king  into  exile  and  remained  there 
until  the  Restoration,  when  "  with  him  he  re- 
turned tryumphant  into  England  on  the  29th  of 
May,  1660,"  only  to  die  six  weeks  afterwards, 
*'  to  the  irreparable  losse  of  his  family."  Another 
descendant  of  the  Culpepers  is  buried  under  the 
altar  in  this  church,  Dame  Grace  Gethin,  a  great 
grand-daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Culpeper,  and 
wife  of  Sir  Richard  Gethin,  of  Gethinge  Grott, 
in  Ireland,  whose  learning  and  virtues  were  so 
renowned  that  monuments  w^ere  erected  in  her 
honour  both  at  Bath  and  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
This  youthful  prodigy,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  is  here  represented  kneeling  between 
two  angels,  and  holding  in  her  hand  the  common- 
place book  which  she  filled  with  extracts  from  her 
favourite  authors,  and  which  was  afterwards  pub- 
lished under  the  title  of  "  Reliquiae  Gethinianae." 
Her  piety  was  as  great  as  her  personal  charms, 
and  the  inscription  on  her  monument  records 
how,    "being  adorned   with    all    the  Graces   and 


l6o  HOLLINGBOURNE    TO    LENHAM 

Perfections  of  mind  and  body,  crowned  them  all 
with  exemplary  Patience  and  Humility,  and 
having  the  day  before  her  death  most  devoutly 
received  the  Holy  Communion,  which  she  said 
she  would  not  have  omitted  for  Ten  Thousand 
Worlds,  she  was  vouchsafed  in  a  miraculous 
manner  an  immediate  prospect  of  her  future 
Blisse,  for  the  space  of  two  hours,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  all  about  her,  and  being,  like  St.  Paul, 
in  an  unexpressible  Transport  of  joy,  thereby  fully 
evincing  her  foresight  of  the  Heavenly  Glory, 
in  unconceivable  Raptures  triumphing  over  Death, 
and  continuing  sensible  to  the  last,  she  resigned 
her  pious  soul  to  God,  and  victoriously  entered 
into  rest,  Oct.  nth,  anno  aetatis  21,  D'ni  :  1697. 
Her  dear  and  affectionate  Mother,  whom  God  in 
mercy  supported  by  seeing  her  glorious  end, 
erected  this  monument,  she  being  her  last  surviving 
issue." 

Soon  after  leaving  Hollingbourne,the  Pilgrims' 
Way  enters  the  grounds  of  Stede  Hill,  and  passes 
through  the  beech-woods  that  spread  down  the 
grassy  slopes  to  the  village  and  church  of  Harriet- 
sham — Heriard's    Home    in    Domesday — in    the 


L  EN  HAM  l6l 

valley  below.  An  altar-tomb,  to  the  memory  of 
Sir  William  Stede,  who  died  in  1574,  and  several 
other  monuments  to  members  of  the  same  family, 
may  be  seen  in  the  south  chapel  of  the  church, 
a  fine  building  of  Early  English  and  Perpendicular 
work,  with  a  good  rood-screen,  standing  in  an 
open  space  at  the  foot  of  the  Stede  Hill  grounds. 
The  rectory  of  Harrietsham  was  formerly  attached 
to  the  neighbouring  Priory  of  Leeds,  but  was 
granted  by  Henry  VI.  to  Archbishop  Chichele's 
newly  founded  College  of  All  Souls,  Oxford, 
which  still  retains  the  patronage  of  this  living. 
The  manor  was  one  of  many  in  this  neighbour- 
hood given  to  Odo  of  Bayeux  after  the  battle 
of  Hastings,  and  afterwards  formed  part  of  the 
vast  estates  owned  by  Juliana  de  Leyborne,  called 
the  Infanta  of  Kent,  who  was  married  three 
times,  but  died  without  children,  leaving  her 
lands  to  become  crown  property. 

A  mile  farther  the  Pilgrims'  Way  enters  the 
town  of  Lenham.  This  parish  contains  both  the 
sources  of  the  river  Len — the  Aqua  lena  of  the 
Romans — which  flows  through  Harrietsham  and 
by  Leeds  Castle  into  the  Medway,  and  that  of  the 
1 1 


l62  HOLLINGBOURNE    TO    LENHAM 

Stour,  which  runs  in  the  opposite  direction  to- 
wards Canterbury.  Lenham  has  held  a  charter, 
and  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  a  town  from  mediaeval 
times.  The  bright  little  market-square,  full  of 
old  houses  with  massive  oak  beams,  and  quaint 
corners  jutting  out  in  all  directions,  hardly  agrees 
with  Hasted's  description  of  Lenham  as  a  dull, 
unfrequented  place,  where  nothing  thrives  in  the 
barren  soil,  and  the  inhabitants,  when  asked  by 
travellers  if  this  is  Lenham,  invariably  reply, 
"Ah,  sir,  poor  Lenham!"  The  picturesqueness 
of  its  buildings  is  undeniable,  and  its  traditions 
are  of  the  highest  antiquity.  The  manor  of  Lenham 
was  granted  to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Augustine  at 
Canterbury  by  Cenulf,  king  of  Mercia,  more  than 
a  thousand  years  ago,  and  in  the  twelfth  century 
the  church  was  appropriated  to  the  Refectory  of 
St.  Augustine ;  that  is  to  say,  the  rectorial  tithes 
were  made  to  supply  the  monks'  dinners.  Some 
fragments  of  the  original  Norman  church  still 
exist,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  present  structure, 
the  arcade  of  bays,  the  fine  traceried  windows  of 
the  aisle,  and  most  of  the  chancel,  belong  to  the 
Decorated  period,  and  were  rebuilt  after  the  great 


Jl,..,  ,«ll 


rr^Ecn^ 


>>\. 


'\i^.i 


fm 


mm 


Hi 

fe'-ijit'Kfcl 


«=5 
< 

hJ 

a 
o 

< 

I 

H 
U 
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Pi 
< 


164  HOLLINGBOURNE    TO    LENHAM 

fire  in  1297,  when  not  only  the  church,  but  the 
Abbot's  barns  and  farm  buildings  were  burnt  to 
the  ground  by  an  incendiary.  So  great  was  the 
sensation  produced  by  this  act  of  wanton  mischief, 
that  Archbishop  Winchelsea  himself  came  to 
Lenham  to  see  the  ravages  wrought  by  the  fire, 
and  fulminated  a  severe  excommunication  against 
the  perpetrators  of  the  wicked  deed.  The  sixteen 
oak  stalls  for  the  monks,  and  an  arched  stone 
sedilia,  of  the  fourteenth  century,  which  served 
the  Abbot  for  his  throne  when  he  visited  his 
Lenham  estates,  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  chancel. 
Here,  too,  is  a  sepulchral  effigy  let  into  the  north 
wall  in  a  curious  sideways  position,  representing 
a  priest  in  his  robes,  supposed  to  be  that  of 
Thomas  de  Apulderfelde,  who  lived  at  Lenham 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  IL,  and  died  in  1327. 
Both  the  western  tower  and  the  north  chancel, 
dedicated  to  St.  Edmund,  and  containing  tombs 
of  successive  lords  of  East  Lenham  manor,  are 
Perpendicular  in  style,  and  belong  to  the  fourteenth 
or  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Fragments 
of  the  fourteenth-century  paintings,  with  which 
the  walls  of  the  whole  church  were  once  adorned, 


THE    HONYWOODS  165 

may  still  be  distinguished  in  places.  Among 
them  are  the  figures  of  a  bishop,  probably  St. 
Augustine,  and  of  St.  Michael  weighing  souls, 
with  devils  trying  to  turn  the  balance  in  their 
favour,  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  crowned 
Virgin  throwing  her  rosary  into  the  scale  which 
holds  the  souls  of  the  just.  The  church  was 
dedicated  to  St.  Mary  the  Virgin,  and  her  image 
formerly  occupied  the  niche  in  the  timbered  porch 
which,  with  the  old  lych-gate,  are  such  fine 
specimens  of  fifteenth-century  wood-work.  The 
beautiful  Jacobean  pulpit  was  given  by  Anthony 
Honywood  in  1622,  and  is  charmingly  carved 
with  festoons  of  grapes  and  vine-leaves.  The 
Honywoods  also  built  the  almshouses,  with  carved 
bargeboards  and  door-posts,  in  the  street  at 
Lenham,  and  an  inscription  in  the  chancel  floor 
records  the  memory  of  that  long-lived  Dame, 
Mary  Honywood,  who  before  her  death  in  1620 
saw  no  less  than  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
of  her  descendants ! 

Close  to  the  church  are  the  great  tithe  barns, 
built  after  the  fire  in  the  fourteenth  century 
by  the   Abbots   of  St.  Augustine.     The   largest 

II  * 


l66  HOLLINGBOURNE    TO    LENHAM 

measures  157  feet  long  by  40  feet  wide,  and, 
saving  the  low  stone  walls,  is  built  entirely  of 
oak  from  the  forests  of  the  Weald.  The  enormous 
timbers  are  as  sound  and  strong  to-day  as  they 
were  six  hundred  years  ago,  and  for  solidity  of 
material  and  beauty  of  construction,  this  Kentish 
barn  deserves  to  rank  among  the  grandest 
architectural  works  of  the  age.  The  monks 
are  gone,  and  the  proud  Abbey  itself  has  long 
been  laid  in  ruins,  but  these  buildings  give  us 
some  idea  of  the  wealth  and  resources  of  the 
great  community  who  were  the  lords  of  Lenham 
during  so  many  centuries.  They  could  afford 
to  lend  a  kindly  ear  to  the  prayer  of  the  poor 
vicar  when  he  humbly  showed  the  poverty  with 
which  he  had  to  contend,  and  the  load  of  the 
burden  that  he  had  to  bear.  The  Abbot,  we 
are  glad  to  learn,  granted  his  request,  and  agreed 
to  give  him  a  roof  over  his  head  and  to  allow 
his  two  cows  to  feed  with  the  monks'  own  herds 
in  the  pastures  at  Lenham,  during  the  months 
between  the  feast  of  St.  Philip  and  St.  James  and 
Michaelmas. 


IN    CHARING    VILLAGE. 


CHAPTER   XI 


CHARING   TO    GODMERSHAM 


From   Lenham    the  Pilgrims'   Road    threads    its 

lonely  way  along  the  hill-side,  past  one  or  two 

decayed    farmhouses    still    bearing  the    name    of 

the  great  families  who  once  owned  these  manors 

— the  Selves   and   the  Cobhams  ;   and  the  view 

over  the  level  countiy  grows  wider,  and  extends 

farther   to   the   south    and    east,   until  we   reach 

167 


l68  CHARING   TO    GODMERSHAM 

Charing  Hill,  one  of  the  highest  points  along 
this  range  of  downs.  The  windmill,  a  few 
hundred  yards  above  the  track,  commands  a  far- 
spreading  view  over  the  valley,  stretching  from 
the  foot  of  the  ridge  to  the  Quarry  Hills,  where 
the  towers  of  Egerton  Church  stand  out  on  its 
steep  mound  above  the  hazy  plains  of  the  Weald. 
We  look  down  upon  Calehill,  the  home  of  the 
Darells  for  the  last  five  centuries,  and  across  the 
woods  and  park  of  Surrenden  Bering,  which  has 
been  held  by  the  Bering  family  ever  since  the 
days  of  Earl  Godwin,  to  the  churches  and  villages 
of  the  Weald.  Beyond  a  foreground  of  swelling 
hill  and  dale  we  see  the  flat  expanse  of  Romney 
Marsh  and  Bungeness ;  and  then  for  the  first 
time  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  pale  blue  line  of 
sea — that  sea  across  which  Roman  and  Saxon 
and  Norman  all  sailed  in  turn  to  land  upon  the 
Kentish  shore.  On  clear  days  you  can  see 
the  Sussex  downs  in  the  far  horizon  beyond 
the  Weald,  and  near  Hastings,  the  hill  of  Fair- 
light  rising  sharply  from  the  sea.  Bown  in  the 
valley  below,  the  tall  tower  of  Charing  Church 
lifts  its  head  out  of  a  confused  mass  of  red  roofs 


CHARING  169 

and  green  trees,  with  the  ivy-grown  ruins  of  the 
old  palace  at  its  feet. 

Many  are  the  venerable  traditions  attached 
to  the  churches  and  villages  which  we  have  seen 
along  our  road  through  this  pleasant  land  of 
Kent,  but  here  is  one  older  and  more  illustrious 
than  them  all.  Here  we  have  a  record  which 
goes  back  far  beyond  the  days  of  Lanfranc  and 
of  Athelstan,  and  even  that  king  of  Mercia  who 
gave  Lenham  to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Augustine. 
For  Charing,  if  not  actually  given,  as  the  old 
legend  says,  by  Vortigern  to  the  ancient  British 
Church,  was  at  all  events  among  the  first  lands 
bestowed  on  Augustine  and  his  companions  by 
Ethelbert,  king  of  Kent.  Saxon  historians  tell 
us  how  that  this  most  ancient  possession  of  the 
church  of  Canterbury  was  seized  by  Offa,  king  of 
Mercia,  in  757,  but  restored  again  by  his  successor, 
Cenulph,  in  the  year  788. 

Long  before  the  Conqueror's  time,  the  Arch- 
bishops had  a  house  here.  In  Domesday  Book, 
Charing  is  styled  "  proprium  manorium  archie- 
piscopi,"  being  reserved  by  those  prelates  for 
their    private    use,    and    from   those   days   until 


lyo  CHARING    TO    GODMERSHAM 

the  manor  was  surrendered  by  Cranmer  to 
Henry  VIII.  it  remained  a  favourite  residence 
of  the  Archbishops.  In  the  thirteenth  century 
the  Franciscan  Archbishop  John  Peckham  dates 
many  letters  from  his  house  at  Charing,  and 
Stratford,  as  Dean  Hook  tells  us,  was  often  there, 
and  found  consolation  in  this  quiet  retreat  for  the 
troubles  of  those  stormy  days.  Chichele,  Kemp, 
and  Bourchier  were  also  frequently  here.  Stratford 
first  obtained  the  grant  of  a  three  days'  fair  to 
be  held  at  Charing  twice  a  year,  on  the  festivals 
of  St.  George  and  St.  Luke.  Leland  tells  us 
that  Cardinal  Morton  made  great  buildings  at 
Charing,  and  the  red  and  black  brickwork  still 
to  be  seen  under  the  ivy  of  the  farm-house 
walls  may  be  ascribed  to  him,  but  the  great 
gateway  with  the  chamber  and  hooded  fireplace 
above,  belongs  to  an  earlier  period,  and  was 
probably  the  work  of  Stratford  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  Some  of  the  older  stonework  is  to  be 
found  in  the  stables  and  cottages  now  occupying 
the  site  of  the  offices  on  the  west  of  the  court. 
The  chapel,  with  its  pointed  arches  and  large 
windows,  which   in   Hasted's  time  stood  behind 


<,:<>i>  HO 


GODMERSHAM 


the     IT  was    suiTcnaereci    uy    ^^rauiiicT    lu 

vrv  VI 11.  it  remained  a  favourite   reside 
o:  >s,  th  century 

the  ..  .  ...cisca  -. ^  j _  eckhcu^  _  

many   letters  \is   house  at   Charing    -^^'^ 

,  as  '  k  tells  us,  was  often  tnere, 

ion  in  this  quiet  ret  e 


/•  -» 


trouble !^  ose  stormy  days 

and  ^^  ^^^  "'ere  also  f'*' 

first  G;^i.ciir         le  gr'- 

lelU     at   C!  CHARING 


gatt 

prouauiy  u 

century.     So'  tiic 

f  le  stables  ai 

the  9ite  of  --.- 

K  '1  »  \i-iT  Tin 


1  > 


eie,  Kemp, 
re.  Stratford 
days'  fair  to 

.4  ;-  .      *  1 

nd  tells  us 
dings   at 

iarin 
V    rhe   g 

eplace 

.^:"':-^    was 

;ic  V         -11  ih 

jrk  iS  to  be 

now  c  ing 

court. 

cifches   and  large 

'ue  stood  '-   "■   d 


>       > 


« •     .     »  •       • » 


c  t    c  e  c  K 


A    RELIC   OF    THE    BAPTIST  I71 

the  modern  dwelling-house,  was  taken  down  eighty 
years  ago,  but  the  great  dining-hall,  with  its 
massive  walls  and  fine  decorated  window,  still 
remains  standing.  This  hall,  where  archbishops 
sat  in  state,  and  kingly  guests  were  feasted ; 
where  Henry  VII.  was  royally  entertained  by 
Archbishop  Warham,  on  the  24th  of  March, 
1507,  and  where  Henry  VIII.  stayed  with  all 
his  train  on  his  way  to  the  Field  of  Cloth  of 
Gold,  is  now  used  as  a  barn.  But  in  its  decay, 
it  must  be  owned,  the  old  palace  is  singularly 
picturesque.  The  wallflowers  grow  in  golden 
clusters  high  up  the  roofless  gables  and  along 
the  arches  of  the  central  gateway ;  masses  of 
apple-blossom  hang  over  the  grey  stone  walls, 
and  ring-necked  doves  bask  in  the  sunshine  on 
the  richly  coloured  tiles  of  the  old  banqueting- 
hall. 

Close  by  is  the  church  of  Charing,  famous  in 
the  eyes  of  mediaeval  pilgrims  for  the  possession 
of  one  hallowed  relic,  the  block  on  which  St.  John 
the  Baptist  was  beheaded,  brought  back,  an  old 
tradition  says,  by  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  from 
the  Holy  Land,  and  given  by  him  to  Archbishop 


172  CHARING    TO    GODMERSHAM 

Baldwin,  when  the  King  paid  his  devotions 
at  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas.  This  precious 
relic  went  the  way  of  all  relics  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
long  list  of  costly  vestments  and  frontals  recorded 
in  an  inventory  of  Church  property  taken  at 
Charing  in  1552.  But  Charing  Church  is  still, 
in  the  words  of  the  old  chronicler,  ''  a  goodly 
pile."  It  is  cruciform  in  shape,  and  contains  some 
traces  of  Early  English  work,  but  it  is  mostly 
of  later  date.  The  windows  are  interesting  on 
account  of  their  great  variety.  There  are  three 
narrow  lancets,  several  of  Transitional  and  Per- 
pendicular style,  and  one  large  and  very  remark- 
able square-headed  Decorated  window.  The 
chapel  of  Our  Lady,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
chancel,  was  built,  towards  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  by  Amy  Brent,  whose  family 
owned  the  charming  old  manor-house  of  Wickens 
in  this  parish.  The  porch  and  fine  tower,  which 
forms  so  marked  a  feature  in  the  landscape, 
was  also  chiefly  built  by  the  Brents,  whose  crest, 
a  wyvern,  is  carved  on  the  doorway,  together 
with  a  rose  encircled  with  sun-rays,   the  badge 


CHARING    CHURCH  I7 


o 


of  Edward  IV.,  in  whose  reign  the  work  was 
completed.  Through  this  handsome  doorway  the 
Archbishop,  attended  by  his  cross-bearers  and 
chaplains,  would  enter  from  the  palace-gate  hard 
by,  and  many  must  have  been  the  stately  pro- 
cessions which  passed  under  the  western  arch 
and  wound  up  the  long  nave  in  the  days  of 
Morton  and  of  Warham.  A  hundred  years  later 
Charing  Church  narrowly  escaped  entire  destruc- 
tion. On  the  4th  of  August,  1590,  a  farmer,  one 
Mr.  Dios,  discharged  a  birding-piece  at  a  pigeon 
roosting,  as  the  pigeons  do  to  this  day,  in  the 
church  tower,  and  "  the  day  being  extreme  hot 
and  the  shingle  very  dry,"  a  fire  broke  out  in  the 
night,  and  by  morning  nothing  was  left  but  the 
bare  walls  of  the  church,  even  the  bells  being 
melted  by  the  heat  of  the  fire.  Happily  the 
parishioners  applied  themselves  with  patriotic  zeal 
to  the  restoration,  and  within  two  years  the  fine 
timber  roof  of  the  nave  was  completed.  The 
date  1592,  E.R.  34,  is  inscribed  on  the  rafter 
above  the  chancel  arch,  while  that  of  the  chancel 
roof  Ann.  Dom.  1622,  Anno  Regni  Jacobi  xviii., 
appears  on  the  beam  immediately  over  the  altar. 


174  CHARING    TO    GODMERSHAM 

The  Pilgrims'  Way  winds  on  through  Charing 
past  the  noble  church  tower  and  the  ancient 
palace  wall,  with  its  thick  clusters  of  ivy  and 
trailing  wreaths  of  travellers'  joy,  through  the 
lovely  woods  of  Pett  Place,  the  home  of  Hony- 
woods  and  Sayers  for  some  hundreds  of  years. 
The  track  crosses  the  long  avenue  of  stately  limes 
which  leads  up  to  its  gates,  and  through  the 
meeting  boughs  we  see  the  red  gables  and  tall 
chimneys  of  the  old  Tudor  house.  In  the 
fourteenth  century  the  owners  of  Pett  had  a 
chapel  of  their  own,  served  by  a  priest  whose 
name  appears  in  the  Lambeth  Register  and  other 
records  as  holding  the  living  of  Pette-juxta- 
Charing ;  and  Geoffery  de  Newcourt,  who  owned 
this  manor,  together  with  the  adjoining  one  of 
Newcourt,  paid  the  king  an  aid  on  his  lands  of 
Pett,  when  the  Black  Prince  was  knighted.  A 
pleasant  part  of  the  track  this  is,  dear  to  botanists 
for  the  w^ealth  of  ferns,  flowers,  and  rare  orchises 
which  grow  along  the  shady  path  ;  pleasant  alike 
in  May,  when  cowslips  and  violets  grow  thick 
in  the  grass  and  the  nightingales  are  in  full 
song,  and  in  June,  when  the  ripe  red  fruit  of  the 


WESTWELL  175 

wild  strawberries  peep  out  from  under  the  moss 
and  the  hawthorns  are  in  bloom,  but  perhaps 
best  of  all  in  autumn,  when  the  beeches  are 
crimson  and  the  maples  in  the  hedges  are  one 
fire  of  gold. 

For  the  next  three  miles,  the  way  lies  through 
the  lower  part  of  the  great  woods  of  Long  Beech, 
which  stretch  all  over  these  hills,  and  which 
from  very  early  times  belonged  to  the  see  of 
Canterbury.  It  brings  us  out  at  Westwell,  close 
to  another  extremely  interesting  church,  dating 
from  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
almost  entirely  of  one  period.  The  graceful  steeple, 
nave,  chancel,  and  aisles,  are  all  Early  English, 
but  the  most  striking  feature  is  the  high  open 
colonnade  which  forms  the  rood-screen.  The 
effect  of  the  chancel,  with  its  side  arcade,  its 
groined  roof,  and  beautiful  lancet  window  filled 
with  richly-coloured  old  glass,  seen  through  these 
three  lofty  arches,  is  very  imposing.  There  is 
another  curious  fragment  of  stained  glass,  bearing 
the  arms  of  Queen  Anne  of  Bohemia  and  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  and  his  wife,  in  the  north 
aisle,   and   the  chancel  contains  six  stone  walls 


176  CHARING    TO    GODMERSHAM 

and  a  stone  seat  with  a  pointed  arch,  which  were 
formerly  used  by  the  monks  and  prior  of  Christ 
Church,  Canterbury.  For  the  manor  of  Westwell, 
like  so  many  others  in  this  neighbourhood,  be- 
longed to  the  see  of  Canterbury  before  the 
Conquest,  and  at  the  division  of  property  effected 
by  Lanfranc  was  retained  by  the  Priory.  Its 
revenues  were  allotted  to  the  supply  of  the  monks' 
refectory,  ad  cibiini  eorum,  just  as  the  tithes  of 
Lenham  were  used  to  provide  meals  for  St. 
Augustine's  Abbey. 

Half  a  mile  above  Westwell  Church  the 
Pilgrims'  Way  reaches  the  gates  of  Eastwell. 
Here  the  track  disappears  for  a  time,  but  old 
maps  show  the  line  which  it  took  across  the 
southern  slopes  of  the  park,  which  extends  for 
many  miles,  and  is  famous  for  the  wild  beauty 
of  its  scenery.  The  hills  we  have  followed  so 
long  run  through  the  upper  part  of  the  park, 
and  magnificent  are  the  views  of  the  sea  and 
Sussex  downs  which  meet  us  in  these  forest 
glades,  where  stately  avenues  of  beech  and  oak 
and  chestnut  throw  long  shadows  over  the  grass, 
and  antlered  deer  start  up  from  the  bracken  at 


W 
In 


.3r 


< 
o 


< 


•jr ».-  ^ 


-*.■-' 


EASTWELL  I// 

our  feet.  But  the  lower  slopes  are  pleasant  too, 
with  the  venerable  yews  and  thorns  and  horn- 
beams dotted  over  the  hill-side,  and  the  heights 
above  clad  with  a  wealth  of  mingled  foliage  which 
is  reflected  in  the  bright  waters  of  the  still,  clear 
lake.  The  old  ivy-grown  church  stands  close  to 
the  water's  edge,  and  contains  some  fine  tombs 
of  the  Earls  of  Winchelsea,  and  of  their  ancestors, 
the  Finches.  But  the  traveller  will  look  with 
more  interest  on  the  sepulchral  arch  which  is  said 
to  cover  the  ashes  of  the  last  of  the  Plantagenets. 
The  burial  registers  indeed  record  that  Richard 
Plantagenet,  the  illegitimate  son  of  Richard  III., 
died  at  Eastwell  on  the  22nd  of  December,  1550, 
and  a  well,  which  goes  by  the  name  of  Plan- 
tagenet's  Well,  marks  the  site  of  the  cottage 
where  he  lived  in  confinement  after  the  defeat  of 
his  father  on  Bosworth  Field.  Eastwell  House, 
for  some  years  the  residence  of  H.R.H.  the  Duke 
of  Edinburgh,  was  originally  built  by  Sir  Thomas 
Moyle,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  VHL,  but  has  been  completely 
altered  and  modernised  since  it  passed  into  the 
Winchelsea  family.  Leaving  it  on  our  left,  we 
12 


lyS  CHARING    TO    GODMERSHAM 

come  out  of  the  Park  at  Boughton  Lees,  a  group 
of  houses  on  a  three-cornered  green,  and  follow 
in  the  steps  of  the  old  track  to  Boughton  Aluph 
church,  a  large  cruciform  building  with  a  spacious 
north  aisle  and  massive  central  tower,  standing 
in  a  very  lonely  situation. 

Boughton,  called  Bocton  or  Boltune  in  former 
times,  belonged  to  Earl  Godwin  and  his  son 
Harold,  before  the  Conquest,  after  which  it  was 
given  to  Eustace,  Earl  of  Boulogne,  and  formed 
part  of  Juliana  de  Leybourne's  vast  inheritance. 
It  took  the  name  of  Aluph  from  a  Norman  knight, 
Aluphus  de  Bocton,  who  held  the  manor  in  the 
reign  of  King  John,  and  became  thus  distinguished 
from  the  other  parishes  of  Boughton  in  the 
neighbourhood.  From  the  church  a  grassy  lane, 
shaded  by  trees,  ascends  the  hill  to  Challock 
on  the  borders  of  Eastwell  Park,  and  is  pro- 
bably the  old  track  of  the  Pilgrims'  Way  which 
passed  between  these  woods  and  the  park  of 
Godmersham.  This  was  formerly  the  property 
of  Jane  Austen's  brother,  who  took  the  name  of 
Knight  on  succeeding  to  the  estate,  but  it  has 
now  passed   into  the   hands   of  another  family. 


GODMERSHAM    CHURCH  I79 

Until  the  Dissolution  the  manor  and  church  of 
Godmersham  belonged  to  Christ  Church,  and 
here,  in  mediasval  days,  the  priors  of  the  convent 
had  a  fine  manor-house,  where  they  frequently 
resided  during  the  summer  months.  The  hall 
was  pulled  down  in  1810,  and  nothing  of  the 
old  house  is  now  left  except  a  gable  and  door- 
way, adorned  with  a  figure  of  a  Prior  wearing 
his  mitre  and  holding  his  crozier  in  his  hand, 
probably  intended  for  Henry  de  Estria,  the 
Prior  who  rebuilt  the  manor-house  in  1290. 
The  church  of  Godmersham  is  remarkable  for 
its  early  tower  and  curious  semicircular  apse 
with  small  Norman  lights,  which  are  evidently 
remains  of  an  older  building,  and  in  the  church- 
yard are  some  very  ancient  yews,  one  of 
which  is  said  to  have  been  planted  before  the 
Conquest. 

Under  the  shadow  of  these  venerable  trees 
there  sleeps  a  remarkable  woman,  Mary  Sybilla 
Holland,  whose  father  was  at  one  time  Vicar  of 
Godmersham,and  afterwards  moved  to  Harbledown, 
a  larger  parish  near  Canterbury,  a  few  miles 
further   along  the    Pilgrims'  Way.      Both    Mrs. 


l80  CHARING    TO    GODMERSHAM 

Holland  and  her  distinguished  brother,  the 
lamented  Sir  Alfred  Lyall,  retained  a  lifelong 
affection  for  this  corner  of  East  Kent.  When 
Lyall  was  far  away  in  India,  ruling  over  millions 
of  British  subjects,  in  the  north-west  provinces, 
his  verses  tell  us  how  passionately  he  yearned 
for  his  old  Kentish  home. 


"  Ah  !    that  hamlet  in  Saxon  Kent, 

Shall  I  find  it  when  I  come  home  ? 
With  toil  and  travelling  well-nigh  spent, 
Tired  with  life  in  jungle  and  tent, 

Eastward  never  again  to  roam. 
Pleasantest  corner  the  world  can  show 

In  a  vale  which  slopes  to  the  English  sea — 
Where  strawberries  wild  in  the  woodland  grow, 
And  the  cherry-tree  branches  are  bending  low, 

No  such  fruit  in  the  South  countree." 


Sir  Alfred  died  on  the  loth  of  April,  191 1, 
at  Lord  Tennyson's  house  at  Farringford,  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  was  buried  in  the 
churchyard  of  St.  Michael's,  Harbledown.  Now 
brother  and  sister  are  both  sleeping  under  the 
grassy  sod  of  the  Kentish  land  which  they 
loved    so    well,    "  where    the    nightingales    sing 


WHERE    NIGHTINGALES    SING 


l8l 


heart-piercing   notes  in  the   silence  of   the  early 


summer  nicrht." 


"  Shelter  for  me  and  for  you,  my  friend, 
There  let  us  settle  when  both  are  old, 
And  whenever  I  come  to  my  journey's  end, 
There  you  shall  see  me  laid,  and  blend 
Just  one  tear  with  the  falling  mould." 


THE    PALACE,    WROTHAM. 


12 


* 


*^-*:ti 


CU.Ilj 


CHILHAM. 


CHAPTER   XII 

CHILHAM    TO    HARBLEDOWN 

The  Pilgrims'  Way  skirted  the  wooded  slopes  of 

Godmersham   Park  for  about  a  mile,   and   then 

entered  Chilham  Park.     The  park  is  now  closed, 

but  the  old  track  lay  right  across  the  park,  and 

in  front  of  Chilham  Castle.     The  position  of  this 

fortress,  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  Stour,  has 

made  it  memorable  in  English  history.     Chilham 

has  been  in  turn  a  Roman  camp,  a  Saxon  castle, 

and  a  Norman  keep,  and   has  played  an  event- 

182 


CHILHAM  183 

ful  part  in  some  of  the  fiercest  struggles  of  those 
days.  According  to  a  generally  received  tradition 
recorded  by  Camden,  Chilham  was  the  scene  of 
the  battle  on  the  river  in  Caesar's  second  expedition ; 
and  the  British  barrow  near  the  Stour,  popularly 
known  as  Julaber's  Grave,  was  believed  to  be  the 
tomb  of  the  Roman  tribune,  Julius  Laberius, 
although,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  contains  no 
sepulchral  remains.  In  the  second  century  Chilham 
is  said  to  have  been  the  home  of  that  traditional 
personage,  the  Christian  King  Lucius,  and  in 
Saxon  days  of  the  chief  Cilia.  The  castle  was 
strongly  fortified  to  resist  the  invasion  of  the 
Danes,  by  whom  it  was  repeatedly  attacked. 
After  the  Norman  Conquest  it  belonged  to  Fulbert 
de  Dover,  whose  last  descendant,  Isabel,  Countess 
of  Atholl,  died  here  in  1292,  and  is  buried  in  the 
under-croft  at  Canterbury.  Then  it  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  great  Lord  Badlesmere,  of  Leeds, 
who  on  one  occasion  gave  Queen  Isabel,  the  wife 
of  Edward  II.,  a  splendid  reception  here,  and 
afterwards  astonished  the  peaceful  citizens  and 
monks  of  Canterbury  by  appearing  at  their  gates, 
followed  by  nineteen  armed  knights,  each  with  a 


184  CHILHAM    TO    HARBLEDOWN 

drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  to  pay  his  devotions 
at  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas.  As  late  as  the 
sixteenth  century  Leland  describes  Chilham  Castle 
as  beautiful  for  pleasure,  commodious  for  use, 
and  strong  for  defence ;  but  soon  after  he  wrote 
these  words,  the  greater  part  of  the  old  house 
was  pulled  down  by  its  owner,  Sir  Thomas  Cheney, 
Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports  under  Edward  VI., 
to  complete  his  new  mansion  in  the  Isle  of  Sheppey. 
The  Norman  keep,  an  octagonal  fortress  three 
stories  high,  is  the  only  part  of  the  mediaeval 
structure  that  now  remains,  and  can  still  be  seen 
in  the  gardens  of  the  new  house  built  in  1616 
by  Sir  Dudley  Digges,  Master  of  the  Rolls  in 
the  reign  of  James  I.  This  fine  Jacobean  manor- 
house  stands  well  on  the  rising  ground  above  the 
river,  and  both  the  garden  terrace  and  the  top 
of  the  old  keep  afford  beautiful  views  of  the  vale 
of  Ashford  and  the  downs  beyond  the  Wye.  Still 
more  picturesque  is  the  market-place  of  Chilham 
itself.  On  one  side  we  have  the  red  brick  walls 
and  white  stone  doorway  of  the  castle,  seen  at  the 
end  of  its  short  avenue  of  tall  lime  trees  on  the 
other  the  quaint  red  roofs  and  timbered  houses 


BIGBERRY   CAMP  185 

of  the  charming  old  square,  with  the  grey  church 
tower  surrounded  by  the  brilliant  green  of  syca- 
mores and  beeches.  On  a  bright  spring  morning, 
when  the  leaves  are  young  and  the  meadows  along 
the  river-side  are  golden  with  buttercups,  there 
can  be  no  prettier  picture  than  this  of  the  old 
market  square  of  Cilia's  home. 

From  the  heights  of  Chilham  the  Pilgrims' 
Way  descends  into  the  valley  of  the  Stour,  and 
after  following  the  course  of  the  river  for  a  short 
time,  climbs  the  opposite  hill  and  strikes  into 
Bigberry  Wood.  Here  we  come  suddenly  upon 
the  most  ancient  earthwork  along  the  whole  line 
of  the  road,  an  entrenchment  which  Professor  Boyd 
Dawkins,  who  explored  it  thoroughly  some  years 
ago,  has  ascribed  to  the  prehistoric  Iron  Age. 
For  most  of  us,  perhaps,  Bigberry  Camp  has  a 
still  greater  interest  as  the  fort  which  the  Britons 
held  against  the  assault  of  the  Roman  invaders, 
and  which  was  stormed  and  carried  by  Caesar's 
legions.  The  memory  of  that  desperate  fight, 
which  sealed  the  fate  of  Britain  and  her  conquest 
by  the  great  Proconsul,  still  lingers  in  the  popular 
mind,  and  the  shepherd  who  follows  his  flock  and 


l86  CHILHAM    TO    HARBLEDOWN 

the  waggoner  who  drives  his  team  along  the  road, 
still  talk  of  the  famous  battle  that  was  fought 
here  two  thousand  years  ago. 

After  this  the  path  crosses  the  valley  and 
runs  through  the  hop-gardens  to  join  Watling 
Street — the  road  by  which  Chaucer's  pilgrims 
came  to  Canterbury — at  Harbledown.  This  is 
the  little  village  on  the  edge  of  the  forest  of 
Blean,  which  has  been  immortalised  by  Chaucer's 
lines — 

"Wist  ye  not  where  standeth  a  little  toun 
Which  that  ycleped  is  Bob-up-and-down, 
Under  the  Blee  in  Canterbury  way." 

And  Bob-up-and-down  is  to  this  day  a  true  and 
characteristic  description  of  the  rolling  ground 
by  which  we  approach  Harbledown.  Here  the 
Pilgrims'  Road,  along  which  we  have  journeyed 
over  hill  and  dale,  fails  to  rise  again.  We  climb 
the  last  hill,  and  on  the  summit  of  the  rising 
ground  we  find  ourselves  close  to  the  lazar-house 
founded  at  Harbledown  by  Lanfranc  in  1084. 
The  wooden  houses  built  by  the  Norman  Arch- 
bishop for  the  reception  of  ten  brothers  and  seven 
sisters  have  been  replaced  by  a  row  of  modern 


HARBLEDOWN 


187 


■  t;.-^--^"-:^-- 


CHArlViam     M 


'/_■*/  t>'r"*'^"i*',/^,^^'*r':-^ i^''^  '  'Xf'^^\j'J^'h'''  .'•'"•'■"y  ''^'•j>^^ 


'"'^''■''^- .  •*^''*j'''::^''>-*'.  r*-^* 


ON    THE    VILLAGE   GREEN,    CHARTHAM. 

almshouses ;  but  the  chapel  still  preserves  its 
old  Norman  doorway,  and  the  round  arches  and 
pillars  of  an  arcade  to  the  north  of  the  nave, 
which  formed  part  of  the  hospital  church  dedicated 
by  Lanfranc  to  St.  Nicholas.  The  devout  pilgrim 
to  St.  Thomas's  shrine  never  failed  to  visit  this 
ancient  leper-house.  Not  only  did  the  antiquity 
of  the  charitable  foundation  and  its  nearness  to 
the  road  attract  him,  but  in  the  common  hall 
of  the  hospital  a  precious  relic  was  preserved  in 
the  shape  of  a  crystal  which  had  once  adorned 


l88  CHILHAM    TO    HARBLEDOWN 

the  leather  of  St.  Thomas's  shoe.  Many  were  the 
royal  personages  and  distinguished  strangers  who 
paused  before  these  old  walls  and  dropped  their 
alms  into  the  poor  leper's  outstretched  hand. 
Here,  we  read  in  contemporary  records,  Henry  H. 
came  on  his  first  memorable  pilgrimage  to  the 
tomb  of  the  martyred  Archbishop,  and  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion  after  his  release  from  his  lone 
captivity.  Edward  I.  stopped  at  Harbledown 
with  his  brave  Queen,  Eleanor  of  Castille,  on 
their  return  from  the  Holy  Land,  and  the  Black 
Prince,  accompanied  by  his  royal  captive.  King 
John  of  France,  and  that  monarch's  young  son 
Philip,  also  visited  the  leper-house.  And  when 
the  French  king  visited  Canterbury  for  the  second 
time,  on  his  return  to  his  own  kingdom,  he  did 
not  forget  to  stop  at  Lanfranc's  old  lazar-house 
and  leave  ten  gold  growns  "  pour  les  nonnains  de 
Harbledoun."  But  it  is  a  later  and  more  sceptical 
traveller,  Erasmus,  who  has  left  us  the  most  vivid 
description  of  Harbledown  and  of  the  feelings 
which  the  sight  of  the  relic  aroused  in  the  heart 
of  his  companion.  Dean  Colet.  "  Not  far  from 
Canterbury,   at  the  left-hand  side   of  the  road," 


COLET   AND    ERASMUS  189 

he  writes,  in  the  record  of  his  pilgrimage,  "  there 
is  a  small  almshouse  for  old  people,  one  of  whom 
ran  out,  seeming  to  hear  the  steps  of  the  horses. 
He  first  sprinkled  us  with  holy  water,  and  then 
offered  us  the  upper  leather  of  a  shoe  bound  in 
a  brass  rim,  with  a  crystal  set  in  its  centre  like 
a  jewel.  Gration  (Dean  Colet)  rode  on  my  left 
hand,  nearer  to  the  beggar  man,  and  was  duly 
sprinkled,  bearing  it  with  a  tolerable  amount  of 
equanimity.  But  when  the  shoe  was  handed  up, 
he  asked  the  old  man  what  he  wanted.  '  It  is 
the  shoe  of  St.  Thomas,'  was  the  answer.  Upon 
this  he  fired  up,  and  turning  to  me,  exclaimed 
indignantly,  *  What !  do  these  cattle  mean  we 
should  kiss  the  shoes  of  every  good  man  ? ' " 
Erasmus,  sorry  for  the  old  man's  feelings, 
dropped  a  small  coin  into  his  hand,  which  made 
him  quite  happy,  and  the  two  pilgrims  rode  on  to 
London,  discussing  the  question  of  the  worship 
of  relics  as  they  went.  To  this  day  a  maple 
bowl,  bound  with  a  brass  rim,  containing  a 
piece  of  crystal,  is  preserved  in  the  hospital  at 
Harbledown,  the  self-same  relic,  it  may  be, 
which  was   shown   to    Erasmus   and    Colet,   and 


190  CHILHAM    TO    HARBLEDOWN 

which  Lambarde,  writing  half  a  century  later, 
describes  as  "  faire  set  in  copper  and  chrystall "  ; 
while  an  old  wooden  box,  with  a  slit  in  the  lid 
for  money,  and  a  chain  attached  to  it,  is  said 
to  be  the  one  into  which  Erasmus  dropped  his 
coin. 

Behind  the  ivy-mantled  tower  of  Lanfranc's 
chapel  is  a  clear  spring  which  was  supposed  to 
possess  healing  virtues,  and  is  still  believed  by 
the  country  folks  to  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  eyes. 
This  spring  still  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Black 
Prince's  Well,  from  an  old  tradition  that  the 
warrior  of  Crecy  and  Poitiers  drank  of  its  waters 
when  he  visited  the  hospital  at  Harbledown  in 
1357.  Many,  we  know,  are  the  memorials  of 
this  popular  hero  at  Canterbury.  Only  three 
days  after  he  landed  at  Sandwich  he  came, 
accompanied  by  his  royal  captive,  to  return  thanks 
at  St.  Thomas's  shrine  for  his  victories,  and  six 
years  afterwards  he  founded  and  decorated  the 
beautiful  chantry  in  the  Cathedral  crypt,  which 
still  bears  his  name,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
marriage  with  his  cousin  Joan,  the  Fair  Maid 
of  Kent.     The  old  legend  of  the  Black  Prince's 


THE    CATHEDRAL    IN    SIGHT  I9I 

Well  goes  on  to  tell  how,  when  he  lay  dying  of 
the  wasting  disease  which  carried  him  off  in  the 
flower  of  his  life,  he  thought  of  the  wonder- 
working spring  near  Canterbury,  and  sent  to 
Harbledown  for  a  draught  of  its  pure  waters. 
But  even  that  could  not  save  him,  and  on  the 
29th  of  September,  1376,  a  stately  funeral  pro- 
cession wound  its  way  down  the  hill-side  at 
Harbledown,  bearing  the  Black  Prince  to  the 
grave  which  he  had  chosen  for  himself  in  the 
Chapel  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Undercroft  at  Canter- 
bury. 

At  Harbledown  the  pilgrims  caught  their  first 
sight  of  the  Cathedral  ;  here  they  fell  on  their 
knees  when  they  saw  the  golden  angel  on  the 
top  of  the  central  tower,  and  knew  that  the  goal 
of  their  pilgrimage  was  almost  reached.  Here 
Chaucer's  goodly  company  made  their  last  halt, 
and  for  the  moment  the  noise  of  singing  and 
piping  and  jingling  of  bells  gave  place  to  a 
graver  and  more  solemn  mood  as  the  motley 
crowd  of  pilgrims  pressed  around,  to  hear  this 
time  not  a  Canterbury  tale,  but  a  sermon.  Deep 
was   the    impression    which    that   first    sight    of 


192  CHILHAM    TO    HARBLEDOWN 

Canterbury  made  upon  Erasmus.  The  cold, 
critical  scholar  becomes  eloquent  as  he  describes 
the  great  church  of  St.  Thomas  rearing  itself  up 
into  the  sky  with  a  majesty  that  strikes  awe  into 
every  heart,  and  the  clanging  of  bells  which, 
thrilling  through  the  air,  salute  the  pilgrims  from 
afar.  To-day  the  great  cross  is  gone  from  the 
Westgate,  the  shining  archangel  no  longer  blesses 
the  kneeling  pilgrim  from  the  topmost  steeple,  but 
the  same  glorious  vision  of  the  great  Cathedral 
rising  with  all  its  towers  into  the  sky  meets  the 
eyes  of  the  traveller  who  looks  down  on  Canter- 
bury from  the  hill  of  Harbledown. 


•  ,  •   •    •    • 


•  •    •       •  .      • 
.  • .  •  .      .  .  •  • 
•, 


xaaw-HTUoa  ani  uohi  jAauaHX/.j  yaua^arKiAD 


')    ij  ATfr,i  mnivyr 


e    upon     Erasmus.     The    cold, 

ccomr  ^aent  ^-  ^^^^  describes 

.iiurcii  of  '~  )mas  rearing  itself  up 

sky  with  a  majesty  that  s         3  awe  into 


he£- 

of   bells   which, 

thrilling  th rr             -  nir  c;. 
2iiar.      lo-u-iV)    Liiv>   !^is 

p.^^rims  from 
gone  from  the 

Westgate,  the  shinir 

the  kneelii 

the  same  gloriou 

'      fer  blesses 
■I  steeple,  but 
at  Cathedral 

risinr*"  ^s.ntfi  -?^  it 

cl-^'  meets  the 

ey. 


CANTERBURY    CATHEDRAL    FROM    THE   i>9M4^H')Yf Ranter- 


■%0 


f         I 


:t, 


'iM 


€       «       t      '    , 


It  c  <  t 

c  «  c      c 

c   ,  c  t     ' 

t  c  c<  o   « 


^^»=^--^-;  j^^pj« -''.i-^c^ 


^•NicVlolas'   HarUeiovyn  M 


ST.    NICHOLAS',    HARBLEDOWN. 


CHAPTER   XIII 


HARBLEDOWN  TO  CANTERBURY 

From  Harbledown  it  is  all  downhill  to  Canterbury, 
and  a  short  mile  brings  us  to  the  massive  round 
tower  of  Simon  of  Sudbury's  noble  Westgate, 
the  only  one  remaining  of  the  seven  fortified 
gateways  which  once  guarded  the  ancient  city. 
Many  are  the  pilgrims  who  have  entered  Canter- 
bury by  this  gate :  kings  and  queens  of  all  ages, 
foreign  emperors  and  princes,  armed  knights 
13  193 


194     HARBLEDOWN  TO  CANTERBURY 

and  humble  scholars,  good  Queen  Philippa  and 
Edward  Plantagenet,  Henry  of  Agincourt,  Mar- 
garet of  Anjou,  Chaucer  and  Erasmus.  Many, 
too,  are  the  long  processions  which  have  wound 
down  this  hill-side  :  newly  created  archbishops 
followed  by  a  brilliant  train  of  bishops  and 
courtiers  on  their  way  to  be  enthroned  in  the 
chair  of  St.  Augustine;  solemn  funerals,  attended 
with  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance,  the  funeral 
plumes  and  sable  trappings,  with  which  men 
honour  the  mighty  dead.  Through  the  West- 
gate  went  forth  that  gay  company  of  monks  and 
friars,  of  merchants  and  citizens  crowned  with 
garlands  of  flowers,  and  making  joyous  minstrelsy, 
as  they  rode  out  to  welcome  Archbishop  Winchel- 
sea,  who,  once  a  poor  student  in  the  school  at 
Canterbury,  now  came  to  be  enthroned  in  state 
in  the  presence  of  King  Edward  I.  and  all  his 
court.  And  this  way,  too,  they  bore  him  with 
much  state  and  pomp,  eighteen  years  later,  from 
the  manor-house  at  Otford,  where  he  died,  to 
sleep  in  his  own  Cathedral  after  all  the  labours 
and  struggles,  the  storms  and  changes  of  his 
troublous  reign. 


p.  194] 


THE    WEST    GATE,    CANTERBURY. 


MEMORIES    OF    BECKET  I95 

Since  these  mediaeval  days  Canterbury  has 
seen  many  changes.  The  splendours  of  which 
Camden  and  Leland  wrote  have  passed  away,  the 
countless  number  of  its  churches  has  been  re- 
duced, and  their  magnificence  no  longer  strikes 
the  eye  of  the  stranger.  The  lofty  walls  and 
their  twenty-one  watch-towers,  which  encircled 
the  city  in  a  complete  ring  when  Chaucer's  knight, 
after  paying  his  devotion  at  the  shrine  of  St. 
Thomas,  went  out  to  see  their  strength,  and 
"pointed  to  his  son  both  the  perill  and  the 
doubt,"  are  all  gone,  and  the  Conqueror's  mighty 
castle  is  turned  into  a  coal-pit.  But  the  old  city 
is  still  full  of  quaint  corners  and  picturesque 
buildings,  timbered  houses  with  carved  corbels 
and  oriel  windows,  hostelries  with  overhanging 
eaves  and  fantastic  sign-boards  of  wrought-iron 
work,  hospitals  whose  charters  date  from  Norman 
times,  and  whose  records  give  us  many  a  curious 
peep  into  the  byways  of  mediaeval  life. 

As  we  draw  near  the  Martyr  s  shrine,  memories 
of  St.  Thomas  crowd  upon  us.  The  hill  outside 
the  Westgate,  now  occupied  by  the  Clergy  Orphan 
School,  is  still  called  St.  Thomas's  Hill,  and  was 


196     HARBLEDOWN  TO  CANTERBURY 

formerly  the  site  of  a  chapel  founded  by  Becket 
himself.  A  little  way  up  the  High  Street  we 
reach  a  bridge  over  the  Stour,  which  winds  its 
way  through  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  a  low 
pointed  doorway  on  our  right  leads  into  St. 
Thomas's  Hospital.  This  ancient  Spittle  of  East 
Bridge  was  founded,  as  a  fourteenth-century 
charter  records,  by  the  "  glorious  St.  Thomas  the 
Martyr,  to  receive  poor  wayfaring  men."  Arch- 
bishop Hubert  Walter  increased  its  endowments 
in  the  twelfth  century,  and  Stratford  repaired  the 
walls  in  the  fourteenth,  and  drew  up  statutes  for 
its  government.  From  that  time  it  was  especi- 
ally devoted  to  the  use  of  poor  pilgrims,  for 
whom  twelve  beds  were  provided,  and  whose 
wants  were  supplied  at  the  rate  of  fourpence  a 
day.  During  those  days,  when  the  enthusiasm 
for  St.  Thomas  was  at  its  height,  alms  and 
legacies  were  lavished  upon  Eastbridge  Hospital, 
and  Edward  HI.  bequeathed  money  to  support 
a  chaplain,  whose  duty  it  was  to  say  daily  masses 
for  the  founders  of  the  hospital.  After  the  days 
of  pilgrimages  were  over,  this  hospital  was  applied 
to   various    uses   until   Archbishop  Whitgift  re- 


EASTBRIDGE    HOSPITAL  I97 

covered  the  property  and  drew  up  fresh  statutes 
for  its  management.  Ten  poor  brothers  and 
sisters  still  enjoy  the  fruit  of  St.  Thomas's  bene- 
volence, and  dwell  in  the  old  house  built  on 
arches  across  the  bed  of  the  river.  The  low  level 
of  the  floor,  which  has  sunk  far  below  that  of 
the  street,  and  the  vaulted  roof  and  time-worn 
pillars,  bear  witness  to  its  great  antiquity.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  round  arches  of  the 
Norman  crypt  belong  to  St.  Thomas's  original 
foundation,  while  the  pointed  windows  of  the 
chapel  and  Early  English  arches  of  the  refectory 
form  part  of  Archbishop  Stratford's  improvements. 
In  this  hall  some  portions  of  frescoes,  representing 
on  the  one  hand  the  Last  Supper,  on  the  other 
the  Martyrdom  of  the  Saint,  the  penance  of 
Henry  II.  at  his  tomb,  with  the  central  figure 
of  Christ  in  Glory,  have  been  lately  recovered 
from  under  the  coat  of  whitewash  which  had 
concealed  them  for  more  than  two  centuries. 

Twice  a  year,  we  know,  at  the  summer  festival 

of  the  Translation  of  St.  Thomas,  on  the  yth  of 

July,  and  at  the  winter  festival  of  the  Martyrdom, 

on  the  29th  of  December,  Canterbury  was  crowded 

13* 


iqS   harbledown  to  canterbury 

with  pilgrims,  and  a  notice  was  placed  in  the 
High  Street  ordering  the  due  provision  of  beds 
and  entertainment  for  strangers.  The  concourse 
was  still  greater  on  the  jubilees  of  the  Trans- 
lation, when  indulgences  were  showered  freely 
on  all  who  visited  the  shrine,  and  the  festival 
lasted  for  a  whole  fortnight.  At  the  jubilee  of 
the  year  1420,  just  after  the  victory  of  Agincourt, 
no  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  pilgrims  are 
said  to  have  been  present.  On  such  occasions 
every  available  corner  was  occupied  ;  the  inns, 
which  were  exceedingly  numerous,  the  hospitals, 
and,  above  all,  the  religious  houses,  were  thronged 
with  strangers.  The  most  favourite,  the  most 
renowned,  of  all  the  hostelries  was  the  Chequers 
of  the  Hope,  the  inn  where  Chaucer's  twenty-nine 
pilgrims  took  up  their  quarters. 

"  At  Chekers  of  the  Hope  that  every  man  doth  know." 

This  ancient  inn,  which  Prior  Chillenden  rebuilt 
about  1400,  stood  at  the  corner  of  High  Street 
and  Mercery  Lane,  the  old  Merceria,  which  was 
formerly  lined  with  rows  of  booths  and  stalls  for 
the  sale  of  pilgrimage  tokens,  such  as  are  to  be 


»   i  • 


:\iKK(r:Rv  lank,  Canterbury, 


[p- 199 


CANTERBURY    BELLS  IQQ 

found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  all  famous  shrines. 
Both  ampullas,  small  leaden  bottles  containing 
a  drop  of  the  martyr's  blood,  which  flowed  peren- 
nially from  a  well  in  the  precincts,  and  Caput 
Thomae,  or  brooches  bearing  the  saint's  mitred 
head,  were  eagerly  sought  after  by  all  Canterbury 
pilgrims.  So  too  were  the  small  metal  bells 
which  are  said  to  have  given  their  name  to  the 
favourite  Kentish  flower,  the  Canterbury  bell. 
And  we  read  that  the  French  king,  John,  stopped 
at  the  Mercery  stalls  to  buy  a  knife  for  the 
Count  of  Auxerre.  The  position  of  the  inn 
close  to  the  great  gate  of  Christ  Church  natur- 
ally attracted  many  visitors,  and  the  spacious 
cellars  with  vaulted  roofs,  which  once  belonged 
to  the  inn,  may  still  be  seen,  although  the  inner 
courtyard  and  the  great  chamber  upstairs  occu- 
pied by  the  pilgrims,  and  known  as  the  Dormitory 
of  Hundred  Beds,  were  burnt  down  forty  years 
ago.  But  the  old  street  front,  with  its  broad 
eaves  overhanging  the  narrow  lane  leading  up  to 
the  great  gateway  at  the  other  end,  still  remains, 
and  renders  Mercery  Lane  the  most  picturesque 
and  interesting  corner  of  the  Cathedral  city. 


200     HARBLEDOWN  TO  CANTERBURY 

The  religious  houses  were  open  to  all  comers, 
and  while  royal  visitors  were  lodged  in  St. 
Augustine's  Abbey,  the  convents  of  the  Mendi- 
cant orders  were  largely  frequented  by  the  poorer 
classes.  There  was  also  the  house  of  the  White- 
friars  or  Augustinians  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
town,  close  to  St.  George's  Gate,  and  the  hospital 
of  St.  John  in  the  populous  Northgate,  "  that 
faire  and  large  house  of  stone,"  built  and  endowed 
by  Lanfranc  in  the  eleventh  century,  besides 
that  of  Eastbridge,  which  has  been  already  men- 
tioned, and  many  other  smaller  foundations. 

But  it  was  in  the  great  Priory  of  Christ 
Church  that  by  far  the  largest  number  of  pilgrims 
found  hospitable  welcome.  A  considerable  part 
of  the  convent  buildings  was  set  aside  for  their 
reception.  The  Prior  himself  entertained  dis- 
tinguished strangers,  and  lodged  them  in  the 
splendid  suite  of  rooms  overlooking  the  convent 
garden,  known  as  the  Omers  or  Homers — Les 
Ormeaux — from  a  neighbouring  grove  of  elms. 
This  range  of  buildings,  including  the  banqueting- 
hall,  generally  known  as  "  Meister  Omers,"  was 
broken  up  into  prebendal  houses  after  the  Dis- 


CHRIST    CHURCH    PRIORY  201 

solution,  and  supplied  three  separate  residences 
for  members  of  the  new  Chapter,  which  gives  us 
some  idea  of  the  size  of  these  lodgings.  For 
ordinary  strangers  there  was  the  Guest  Hall,  near 
the  kitchen,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Prior's  Court, 
which  was  under  the  especial  charge  of  a  cellarer 
appointed  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  the  guests. 
Prior  Chillenden,  whom  Leland  describes  as  *'  the 
greatest  builder  of  a  Prior  that  ever  was  in  Christ 
Church,"  repaired  and  enlarged  this  Strangers' 
Hall  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  added  a 
new  chamber  for  hospitality,  which  bore  the  name 
of  Chillenden's  Guest  Chamber,  and  now  forms 
part  of  the  Bishop  of  Dover's  house.  Finally, 
without  the  convent  precincts,  close  to  the  court 
gateway,  where  the  beautiful  Norman  stairway 
leads  up  to  the  Great  Hall,  or  Aula  Nova,  was 
the  Almonry.  Here  the  statutes  of  Archbishop 
Winchelsea — he  who  had  known  what  it  was  to 
hunger  and  thirst  in  his  boyhood,  and  who  re- 
mained all  through  his  greatness  the  friend  of 
the  poor — provided  that  poor  pilgrims  and  beggars 
should  be  fed  daily  with  the  fragments  of  bread 
and  meat,  "which  were  many  and  great,"  left  on 


202     HARBLEDOWN  TO  CANTERBURY 

the   monks'    tables,    and    brought    here    by   the 
wooden  pentise  or  covered  passage  leading  from 
the   kitchen.     This  Almonry  became  richly  en- 
dowed by  wealthy  pilgrims  in  course  of  years, 
and  early  in  the  fourteenth  century  Prior  Henry 
of   Estria  built   a   chapel   close   by,    which   was 
dedicated  to  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr,  and  much 
frequented  by  pilgrims.    The  Almony  was  turned 
into   a   mint-yard   at   the    Dissolution,    and    the 
chapel  and  priests'  lodgings  attached  to  it,  now 
belong  to  the  King's  School.     Another  privilege 
freely  conceded  by  the  prior  and  monks  of  this 
great  community   to  pilgrims  of  all  ranks  and 
nationality  who    might   die  at   Canterbury,  was 
that   of    burial    within    the    precincts   of  Christ 
Church,  close  to  the  blessed  martyr's  shrine,  and 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Cathedral  walls. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE    martyr's    shrine 

Erasmus  has  described  the  imposing  effect  of  the 
great  Cathedral  church  on  the  stranger  who  entered 
its  doors  for  the  first  time,  and  saw  the  nave  "  in 
all  its  spacious  majesty."  The  vision  which  broke 
upon  the  eyes  of  those  pilgrims  who,  like  himself 
and  Dean  Colet,  visited  Canterbury  in  the  early 
years  of  the  sixteenth  century,  may  well  have 
filled  all  hearts  with  wonder.  For  then  the  work 
was  well-nigh  perfected.  The  long  roll  of  master- 
builders,  from  Prior  Wibert  and  De  Estria  to 
Chillenden  and  Sellyng,  had  faithfully  accom- 
plished their  task.  Prior  Goldstone,  the  last  but 
one  who  reigned  before  the  Dissolution,  had  just 
completed  the  central  tower,  the  great  labour  of 
his    predecessor    Prior    Sellyng's    life,    and    was 

in  the  act  of  building  the   noble    Perpendicular 

203 


204  THE    MARTYR  S    SHRINE 

gateway  which    forms  a  fitting  entrance  to  the 
precincts. 

And  now  the  great  church  stood  complete. 
Without,  "a  very  goodly,  strong,  and  beautiful 
structure  "  :  the  traceries  and  mouldings  of  the 
windows,  the  stone  canopies  and  sculptured  images 
of  the  portal,  all  perfect ;  the  glorious  towers  in 
their  might ;  Bell  Harry  Steeple,  as  we  see  it 
to-day,  matchless  in  its  strength  and  beauty ; 
and  beside  it,  rivalling  its  grace  and  majesty,  the 
ancient  Norman  tower,  which  bore  the  name  of 
Ethelbert,  crowned  with  the  Arundel  spire. 
Within,  a  richness  and  splendour  to  which  our 
eyes  are  wholly  unaccustomed  :  chapels  and 
chantries  lining  the  great  nave,  fresh  from  Prior 
Chillenden's  work ;  altars  glittering  with  lighted 
tapers  and  gold  and  silver  ornaments  ;  roof  and 
walls  bright  with  painting  and  gilding,  or  decked 
with  silken  tapestry  hangings  ;  carved  images 
covered  with  pearls  and  gems  ;  stained  windows 
throwing  their  hues  of  ruby  and  sapphire  across 
the  floor,  and  lighting  up  the  clouds  of  incense 
as  they  rose  heavenward.  All  this,  and  much 
more,    met   the    pilgrims'   wondering  eyes.      No 


•    t  .  •   •    • 


•  •  • 


•    •      • 


nil,    MARIAKDOM,    CAXIKRKURV    C.\  111  l-.UKAl.. 


Tp-  205 


WITHIN    THE    CATHEDRAL  205 

wonder  they  stood  '*  half  amazed,"  as  the  Supple- 
mentary Tale  to  Chaucer's  Pilgrimage  describes 
"  the  gardener  and  the  miller  and  the  other  lewd 
sets,"  gazing  up  at  the  painted  windows,  and 
forgetting  to  move  on  with  the  crowd. 

Then  the  show  began.  First  of  all  the 
pilgrims  were  led  up  a  vaulted  passage  and 
'*  many  steps  "  to  the  Transept  of  the  Martyrdom, 
where  the  wooden  altar,  at  the  foot  of  which  the 
saint  fell,  remained  to  show  the  actual  place  of 
the  murder,  and  its  guardian  priest — the  Gustos 
MartyriLUi — displayed  the  rusty  sword  of  Richard 
le  Breton.  Next,  descending  the  flight  of  steps 
on  the  right,  they  were  led  into  the  dark  crypt, 
where  more  priests  received  them,  and  presented 
the  saint's  skull,  encased  in  silver,  to  be  kissed, 
and  other  relics,  including  the  famous  girdle  and 
hair-shirt.  This  Caput  Thomce  was  one  of  the 
chief  stations  at  which  offerings  were  made,  and 
the  altar  on  which  it  lay,  mentioned  in  the  Black 
Prince's  will  as  "  the  altar  where  the  head  is," 
marked  the  site  of  the  original  grave  where  the 
saint  was  buried  by  the  frightened  monks  on 
the  day  after  the  murder.     The  tomb  stood  in  the 


2o6  THE    martyr's    SHRINE 

eastern  chapel  of  Ernulf  s  crypt,  under  the  beautiful 
Pointed  arches  afterwards  raised  by  that  great 
architect,  William  the  Englishman,  whom  Gervase 
describes  as  "  small  in  body,  but  in  workmanship 
skilled  and  honest."  Soon  it  acquired  a  miraculous 
virtue,  and  the  fame  of  the  cures  and  wonders 
wrought  there  rang  throughout  the  world.  It 
was  the  scene  of  Henry  II.'s  penance,  and  during 
the  next  fifty  years  it  remained  the  central  object 
of  interest  to  the  crowds  of  pilgrims  who  came 
from  all  parts  of  Christendom.  Coeur  de  Lion, 
accompanied  by  William,  King  of  Scotland,  knelt 
here  on  his  way  to  the  Crusades,  to  implore  the 
martyr's  blessing  on  his  arms.  Many  were  the 
Crusaders  from  all  parts  of  France  and  England 
who  came  thither  on  the  same  errand.  King 
John  and  his  wife  Isabella,  who  were  crowned  at 
Canterbury  Cathedral  by  Archbishop  Hubert 
Walter,  at  Easter,  1201,  offered  their  coronation 
canopies  at  this  tomb  and  vast  sums  of  money 
were  yearly  offered  here  until  1220,  when  the 
body  of  St.  Thomas  was  translated,  in  the 
presence  of  the  young  King  Henry  III.,  to 
the   new  Shrine  in  Trinity  Chapel,  immediately 


GLORY    OF   THE    SHRINE  207 

above  the  tomb  in  the  crypt.  In  that  year  the 
offerings  at  the  tomb,  at  the  Altar  of  the  Sword's 
Point,  and  at  the  new  Shrine,  reached  the 
enormous  amount  of  ;^  1,071,  a  sum  equal  to 
more  than  ;^20,ooo  of  money  at  the  present 
time.  After  this,  the  offerings  at  the  original 
tomb  in  the  crypt  diminished  in  number  and 
value,  but  the  altar  and  relics  of  the  Caput 
Thomce  remained  an  object  of  deep  reverence  until 
the  Reformation. 

From  the  dark  vaults  of  the  subterranean 
church  the  pilgrims  were  led  up  the  steps  to  the 
north  aisle  of  the  choir.  Here  the  great  mass 
of  relics,  including  St.  George's  arm  and  no  less 
than  four  hundred  skulls,  jaws,  teeth,  hands,  and 
other  bones,  were  displayed  in  gold,  silver,  or 
ivory  caskets,  and  pilgrims  were  allowed  a  glimpse 
of  the  magnificent  vessels  and  ornaments  stored 
up  under  the  high  altar.  "  All  the  gold  of  Midas 
and  Croesus,"  exclaims  Erasmus,  **  would  have 
been  nothing  by  the  side  of  these  treasures  !  "  and 
he  confesses  that  he  sighed  to  think  he  kept  no  such 
relics  at  home,  and  had  to  beg  the  saint's  pardon 
for  this  very  unholy  emotion.    The  golden  candle- 


208  THE    martyr's    SHRINE 

Sticks  and  silken  vestments  of  the  sacristy  in 
St.  Andrew's  tower,  and  the  saint's  pallium, 
which  no  ordinary  pilgrims  might  see,  were  also 
shown  to  Erasmus  and  Colet,  who  brought  with 
them  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Archbishop 
Warham. 

After  duly  inspecting  these  precious  objects, 
they  mounted  the  long  flight  of  steps  behind  the 
high  altar  leading  into  Trinity  Chapel ;  a  con- 
tinual ascent,  "  church,  as  it  were,  piled  upon 
church,"  which  seems  to  have  greatly  heightened 
the  impression  produced  upon  the  awe-struck 
pilgrims.  Now  at  last  they  stood  within  the  holiest 
of  holies.  There,  before  their  eyes,  was  the  goal 
of  all  their  journeyings,  the  object  of  their  deepest 
devotion,  the  Shrine  which  held  the  body  of  the 
blessed  martyr. 

The  Shrine  itself,  covered  by  a  painted  canopy 
of  wood,  rested  on  stone  arches  in  the  centre  of 
the  floor,  exactly  under  the  gilded  crescent  which 
is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Cathedral  roof.  On 
the  right  was  the  richly  carved  and  canopied 
monument  of  Henry  IV.  and  his  Queen,  Joan  of 
Navarre,  with  its  elaborate  effigies  of  the  royal 


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14 


210  THE    MARTYR  S    SHRINE 

pair  wearing  their  crowns  and  robes  of  state  ;  on 
the  left  the  tomb  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince. 
He  had  willed  to  sleep  before  the  altar  of  Our 
Lady  of  the  Under-croft,  in  the  chapel  adorned 
by  his  own  gifts,  but  the  people  who  had  loved 
him  so  well  would  not  allow  their  hero  to  remain 
buried  out  of  sight  in  the  dark  crypt.  So  they 
brought  him  to  rest  by  the  great  saint's  Shrine, 
where  all  men  could  see  his  effigy  of  gilded 
bronze  as  he  lay  there,  clad  in  armour,  his  sword 
by  his  side,  his  hands  clasped  in  prayer,  and 
read  the  pathetic  lines  which  tell  of  his  departed 
glories,  and  bid  the  passing  stranger  pray  for 
his  soul : 

"  Pur  Dieu,  priez  au  Celestien  Roy, 
Que  mercy  ait  de  lame  de  moy." 

His  was  the  first  tomb  that  was  ever  raised  in  the 
sacred  precincts  devoted  to  the  martyr's  Shrine, 
and  to  this  day  it  remains  there,  unhurt  by  the 
hand  of  time  or  the  more  cruel  violence  of  man. 

Up  the  worn  stone  steps  which  still  bear  the 
marks  left  by  thousands  of  feet  and  knees,  the 
pilgrims   climbed,    murmuring   words   of  prayer 


THE    CROWN  211 

or  chanting  the  popular  Latin  hymns  to  St. 
Thomas  : 

"Tu,  per  Thomse  sanguinem, 
Quern  pro  te  impendit, 
Fac  nos,  Christe,  scandere 
Quo  Thomas  ascendit." 

Here  the  Prior  himself  received  them,  and  showed 
them  first  the  corona  or  crown  of  Becket's  head, 
preserved  in  a  golden  likeness  of  St.  Thomas's 
face,  ornamented  with  pearls  and  precious  gems, 
which  had  been  presented  by  Henry  V.  Then, 
at  a  given  sign,  the  wooden  canopy  was  drawn 
up  by  ropes,  and  the  Shrine  itself,  embossed  with 
gold  and  glittering  with  countless  jewels  that 
flashed  and  sparkled  with  light,  was  revealed  to 
the  eyes  of  the  pilgrims.  They  all  fell  upon 
their  knees  and  worshipped,  while  the  Prior  with 
his  white  wand  pointed  out  the  balass-rubies  and 
diamonds,  the  sapphires  and  emeralds,  which 
adorned  the  Shrine,  and  told  the  names  of  the 
royal  persons  by  whom  these  gifts  had  been 
presented.  There  were  rings  and  brooches  and 
chains  without  end,  golden  and  silver  statues 
offered  by  kings  and  queens,  the  crown  of  Scotland 


212  THE    martyr's    SHRINE 

brought  back  by  Edward  I.  after  his  victory  over 
John  Baliol,  and  the  regale  of  France,  that  superb 
ruby  presented  at  the  tomb  in  the  crypt  by 
Louis  VII.,  which  shone  like  fire,  and  was  as 
costly  as  a  king's  ransom.  Full  of  awe  and 
wonder  the  spectators  gazed  with  admiring  eyes 
on  these  treasures,  which  for  beauty  and  splendour 
were  beyond  all  they  had  ever  dreamt,  until  the 
canopy  slowly  descended,  and  the  Shrine  was 
once  more  hidden  from  their  sight. 

Then  they  went  their  way,  some  to  visit  the 
convent  buildings,  the  noble  chapter-house  with 
its  gabled  roof  and  stained  windows,  and  the 
glazed  walk  of  the  cloisters,  glowing  with  bright 
colours  and  decorated  with  heraldic  devices  of 
benefactors  to  Christ  Church  painted  on  the 
bosses  of  the  vaulting.  Others  made  themselves 
fresh  and  gay,  and  went  out  to  see  the  city, 
the  Knight  and  his  son  to  look  at  the  walls,  the 
Prioress  and  the  Wife  of  Bath  to  walk  in  the 
herbary  of  the  inn. 

But  for  Erasmus  and  his  rather  inconvenient 
companion  there  was  still  a  sight  in  store, 
only   reserved    for   very   exalted   personages,    or 


<  ( 


MORE  THAN  ROYAL  SPLENDOUR    213 


such  as  had  friends  at  court.  Prior  Goldstone, 
a  gentle  and  well-bred  man,  not  altogether 
ignorant,  as  Erasmus  found,  of  the  Scotian 
theology,  himself  took  them  back  into  the  crypt, 
and  lanterns  were  brought  to  illumine  the  dark 
vaults.  By  their  light  the  Prior  led  the  way 
into  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Under- 
croft, which  was  divided  from  the  rest  of  the 
crypt  by  strong  iron  railings.  Here  the  two 
friends  saw  what  Erasmus  might  well  call  "  a 
display  of  more  than  royal  splendour."  For 
here,  surrounded  by  exquisitely  carved  stone- 
work screens  and  a  beautiful  reredos  with  deli- 
cate traceries  and  mouldings,  richly  coloured  and 
gilt,  was  the  altar  of  Our  Lady,  adorned  with 
precious  ornaments  and  twinkling  with  hundreds 
of  silver  lamps.  There  in  the  central  niche, 
under  a  crocketed  and  pinnacled  canopy,  stood 
the  famous  silver  image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
herself.  And  there  was  the  jewelled  tabernacle 
and  frontal,  with  its  picture  of  the  Assumption 
worked  in  gold,  and  the  chalice  and  cruets  in 
the  form  of  angels,  and  the  great  silver  candelabra 
with  which  the  Black  Prince  had  enriched  his 
14* 


214  THE    MARTYR  S    SHRINE 

favourite  shrine.  There  too  were  the  costly 
gifts  and  jewels  presented  by  his  son,  Richard  II., 
the  gold  brooches  offered  yearly  by  Edward  I., 
the  white  silk  vestments,  diapered  with  a  vine 
pattern  of  blue,  bequeathed  by  the  Black  Prince, 
and  countless  other  rare  and  precious  things, 
which  filled  Erasmus  with  envy  and  wonder. 
But  then,  as  ill  luck  would  have  it,  the  Prior 
conducted  his  guests  into  the  sacristy,  where  on 
bended  knees  he  opened  a  black  leathern  chest, 
out  of  which  he  produced  a  parcel  of  ragged 
handkerchiefs  with  which  St.  Thomas  used  to 
wipe  his  face.  This  was  too  much  for  Dean 
Colet's  patience,  already  sorely  tried  as  it  had 
been  by  what  he  had  seen  and  heard.  When 
the  gentle  Prior  offered  him  one  of  the  filthy 
rags  as  a  present,  he  shrank  back  in  evident 
disgust,  and  turned  up  his  nose  with  an  expression 
of  contempt  which  filled  Erasmus  with  shame 
and  terror.  Fortunately  the  Prior  was  a  man 
of  sense  and  courtesy,  so  he  appeared  to  take 
no  notice,  and  after  giving  his  guests  a  cup  of 
wine,  politely  bade  them  farewell. 

Before  this  Colet  had  alarmed  his  more  timid 


SACRILEGE  215 

friend  by  the  bold  way  in  which  he  had  dared 
to  question  the  priest  who  guarded  the  gilded 
head.  He  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  remark 
aloud  that  the  saint  who  was  so  charitable  in 
his  lifetime,  would  surely  be  better  pleased  if 
some  trifling  part  of  these  riches  were  spent  in 
relieving  the  poor  and  destitute.  Upon  which 
the  monk  had  glared  at  him  with  Gorgon  eyes, 
and,  Erasmus  felt  sure,  would  have  turned  them 
out  of  the  church  forthwith,  had  it  not  been  for 
Archbishop  Warham's  letter. 

But  in  these  words  of  the  honest  Dean 
we  see  a  foreboding  of  the  new  and  critical 
spirit  that  was  fast  undermining  the  old  beliefs. 
Already  the  days  of  pilgrimages  were  numbered, 
and  the  glories  of  St.  Thomas  were  on  the  wane. 
A  few  more  years  and  the  monks  who  guarded 
his  treasures  were  rudely  disturbed.  The  glorious 
Shrine  was  stripped  of  its  priceless  gems.  The 
wrought  gold  and  precious  jewels  were  borne 
away  in  two  enormous  chests,  such  as  six  or 
seven  men  could  barely  lift.  The  wonderful 
ruby  which  flashed  fire  in  the  darkness  was  set 
in  a  ring  and  worn  by  King  Harry  himself  on  his 


2l6  THE    martyr's    SHRINE 

thumb.  Finally,  to  complete  the  sacrilege,  the 
relics  of  the  Saint  were  publicly  burnt  and  his 
ashes  scattered  to  the  winds.  Only  the  broken 
pavement  and  the  marks  of  the  pilgrims'  knees 
in  the  stone  floor  were  left  to  show  future  genera- 
tions this  spot,  hallowed  by  the  prayers  and  the 
worship  of  past  ages. 


I  NDEX 


Abbotsworthy,  34 

Abbott,     E.,     "St.     Thomas     of 

Canterbury,"  11  note 
Abinger,  90  ;   discovery  of  Roman 

remains  at,  99 
Addington,  cromlechs  at,   146 
iEthelred  II.,   153 
Agincourt,  battle  of,   198 
Albury,  18,  82  ;    yew  hedge,  84  ; 

church,  83  ;    Downs,  80  ;    view 

from,  80  ;  Park,  80,  87 
Alexander  III.,  Pope,  14 
Alfred,  King,  21,  72  ;    founds  the 

Abbey  of  Hyde,  28 
Alice  Holt  forest,  50 
Allen,  Mr.  Grant,  5 
Alresford,    35,    38  ;     New,    cloth 

frade    at,    39  ;     result    of    the 

Civil  Wars,  40  ;    Old,  38 
Alton,  28,  50 
Anderida,  forest  of,  5 
Apulderfelde,    Thomas    de,    effigy 

of,  164 
Aragon,     Katherine    of,    portrait 

of,  131 
Arle,  ford  of  the,  38 
Arundel,    Thomas    Howard,    Earl 

of,  83  ;   collector  of  the  Arundel 

marbles,  83  ;    portrait  of,  83 
Ash,  54 
Ashburton,      Lord,     his     famous 

Grange,  37 


Ashford,   127;    vale  of,   184 
Athelstan,  112,  134,  153,  169 
Atholl,  Isabel,  Countess  of,   183 
Austen,  Cassandra,  48 
Austen,  Jane,  46  ;    her  cottage  at 

Chawton,  48  ;  novels,  48  ;  mode 

of  life,  48  ;    letters,  49 
Avington  Park,  36 
Aylesford,  144 ;    Common,  146 

Badlesmere,  Lord,  of  Leeds,  183 

Baldwin,  Archbishop,  172 

Bahol,   John,  212 

Becket,  St.  Thomas,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  his  murder,  7-9  ; 
championship  for  the  rights  of 
the  Church,  9  ;  journey  to 
Canterbury,  9  ;  miracles  and 
cures  wrought  by,  10-12,  206  ; 
canonisation,  14  ;  removal  of 
his  body,  15,  206  ;  shrine,  16, 
208-212  ;  fame,  16  ;  his  house 
at  Otford,  129  ;  legends,  131  ; 
relics,  205,  207 

Beggars'  Corner,  58 

Belloc,  Hilaire,  "The  Old  Road," 
vii 

Bentley  Station,  52 

Betchworth  Park,  98 

Bigberry  Camp,  185  ;    wood,   185 

Birinus,  church  of,  22 

Birling,   142  ;    Place,  138 


217 


2l8 


INDEX 


Bishop  Sutton,  43 

Black     Prince,     at     Harbledown, 

188  ;  memorials  of,  190  ;  death, 

191  ;    tomb,  210 
Black  Prince's  Well,  190 
Blackdown,  80 

Blagge,  iMistress,  portrait  of,  92 
Blean,  forest  of,  186 
Bletchingley,  discovery  of  Roman 

remains  at,  100 
Blois,  Henry  of,  24,  52 
Bocton,  Aluphus  de,  178 
Bohemia,    Queen    Anne    of,    the 

arms  of,  175 
Boleyn,  Anne,  portrait  of,  67 
Boniface,  Archbishop,   143 
Boscawen,    Mrs.,    her    birthplace, 

132 
Botley  Hill,  118 
Botolph,    St.,    church    of,     122  ; 

monuments,   122 
Boughton  Aluph  church,  178 
Boughton,  Bocton  or  Boltune,  1 78 
Boughton  Lees,  178 
Boughton  Malherbe,  154 
Boulogne,  Eustace,  Count  of,  178 
Box  Hill,  94,  98 
Boxley,  the  Cistercian  Abbey  of, 

146;    relics,   147 
Boxley,  151  ;    church,  152 
Brabceuf  Manor,  69 
Brabourne,  Lord,  49 
Brent,  Amy,  172 
Brighton  Downs,  107 
Browne,  Sir  Richard,  portrait  of, 

92 
Brydges,  George,  36 
Buckingham,  George  Villiers,  Duke 

of.  37 
Buckland,  99 
Bunker's  Farm,  142 
Bunyan,  John,  loi 
Burford,  96 


Burham  church,   145 

Calehill,  168 

Calva,  Ruald  de,  ']'] 

Camden,  W.,  104,  195 

Canterbury,  routes  taken  by  pil- 
grims, 3-6,  20,  28  ;  number  of, 
16-18,  193,  198  ;  characteris- 
tics, 195  ;  the  Chequers  of  the 
Hope  Inn,  198 ;  religious 
houses,  200  ;  Priory  of  Christ 
Church,  200 ;  the  Omers  or 
Homers,  200  ;  Guest  Hall,  201  ; 
the  Almonry,  201 

Canterbury  Cathedral,  the  murder 
of  Becket  in,  9  ;  "  the  choir  of 
Conrad  "  destroyed  by  fire,  14  ; 
rebuilt,  14 ;  number  of  pil- 
grims, 16-18,  193,  198  ;  master- 
builders,  203  ;  completion,  204  ; 
Transept  of  the  Martyrdom, 
205  ;  relics,  205,  207  ;  miracles 
and  cures,  206 ;  number  of 
crusaders,  206 ;  amount  of 
offerings,  207  ;  the  Shrine,  208- 
212  ;  the  Church  of  Our  Lady 
of  the  Undercroft,  213 

Challock,  178 

Chanctonbury  Ring,  76,  107 

Chantrey,  Sir  F.  L.,  his  effigy  of 
Lady  Frederica  Stanhope,  124 

Chantry  Woods,  75 

Chantry  Ford,  87 

Charing,  18 ;  height  of,  138 ; 
chapel,  170  ;  church,  168,  171- 
173  ;  traditions,  169  ;  relic  in, 
171  ;  destroyed  by  fire,  173  ; 
rebuilt,  173  ;  fair  at,  170  ; 
Hill,  168  ;  manor,  the  residence 
of  Archbishops,  170 

Charles  I.,  King,  53  ;  Prayer 
Book  used  by,  94 

Charles  II.,  King,  36 


INDEX 


219 


Charterhouse  80 

Chatham,  Lord,  his  visits  to 
Chevening,  122 

Chaucer,  G.,  hnes  from,  17,  186; 
his  pilgrims,  61,  191 

Chawton,  46 

Cheney,  Sir  John,  158 

Cheney,  Sir  Thomas,   184 

Chequers  of  the  Hope  Inn,  198 

Cheriton  battle,  41 

Chevening  church,  122  ;  monu- 
ments in,  122  ;  manor,  121  ; 
Park,  121  ;    village,  122 

Chilham  Castle,  182-184  ;  manor- 
house,   184  ;    Park,   182 

Chillenden  Prior,  198,  201 

Chilworth,  78 ;  powder-mills,  78-80 

Ciderhouse  Cottage,  75  ;   Lane,  75 

Clere,  St.,  mansion,  132 

Cobbett,  Richard,  54 

Cobbett,  William,  Iris  "  Rural 
Rides,"  5,  35,  76,  78,  106,  109, 
152  ;  his  birthplace,  54  ;  at 
Albury,  84;    Godstone,  114 

Cold-harbour  Green,  118 

Colet,  Dean,  at  Harbledown,  188- 
190  ;  his  visit  to  Canterbury 
Cathedral,  208  ;  in  the  Church 
of  Our  Lady  of  the  Undercroft, 
213-215  ;  treatment  of  the 
relics,  214 

Colley  Farm,  99  ;  discovery  of 
Roman  remains  at,  99 

Compton,  58,  63,  69  ;    church,  63 

Copley,  Sir  Roger,  109 

Corby  Castle,  30 

Courtenay,  Archbishop,  143 

Crooksbury,  heights  of,  54 

St.  Cross,  Hospital  of,  24 

Crowborough  Beacon,  107 

Culpeper,  Elizabeth,  Lady,  monu- 
ment to,  158 

Culpeper,  John,  Lord,  the  tapes- 


tries and  altar-cloth  worked  by 
his  daughters,  156  ;  monument 
to,  158 

Culpeper,  Sir  Thomas,  159 

Cuxton  ford,  141 

Dacre,  Lord,  121.     See  Lennard 

Danefield,   129 

Darent  valley,   126 

Dartford,  126 

Dawkins,  Prof.  Boyd,  185 

Day,  Bishop,  letter  from,  68 

Deane,  Archbishop,  130 

Deepdene  Park,  98 

Denbies  Park,  97 

Denmark,  Anne  of,  66  ;    portrait 

of,  66 
Deptford,  3 

Detling,  152  ;    height  of,  138 
Digges,  Sir  Dudley,  184 
Dios,  Mr.,  173 
Dorking,  95,  97 
Dover,  3 

Dover,  Fulbert  de,   183 
Drummond,  Mr.,  83 
Dungeness,   168 
Diirer,  Albert,  112 

East  Grinstead,   107 
Eastbridge  Hospital,  196 
Eastwell,     176;      church,      177; 

House,  177;    Park,  126 
Edinburgh,  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of, 

his   residence    Eastwell   House, 

177 
Edward    I.,    King,    26,    130,    142, 

212  ;    at  Harbledown,  188 
Edward  II.,   King,  50  ;    his  visit 

to  Boxley  Abbey,  148 
Edward  III.,  King,  196 
Edward  IV.,  King,  173 
Edward  VI.,  King,  105  ;    portrait 

of,  67 


220 


INDEX 


Edward,  the  Black  Prince,  at  Har- 
bledown,  i88 ;  memorials  of, 
190  ;  death,  igi  ;    tomb,  210 

EfSngham,  Lady  Howard  of,  105 

Egbert,  King,  33 

Egerton  Church,  168 

Eleanor  of  Castille,  Queen,  188 

EUzabeth,  Queen,  53  ;  her  visits 
to  Loseley,  66 ;  to  Leeds 
Castle,  154 

EUiston-Erwood,  Mr.,  "  The  Pil- 
grims' Road,"  vi 

Erasmus,  at  Harbledown,  188-190; 
his  impressions  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral,  192,  203 ;  on  the 
relics,  207 ;  in  the  Church  of 
Our  Lady  of  the  Undercroft, 
213-215 

Estria,  Prior  Henry  of,  179,  202 

Ethelbald,  King  of  Wessex,  52 

Ethelred  the  Unready,  113 

Ethelwold,  Bishop,  22 

Evelyn,  John,  78,  84  ;  his  home 
at  Wotton,  90  ;    portrait,  92 

Evershed's  Rough,  90 

Ewhurst  Mill,  80 

Fairlawn  House,  136 
Fairlight  hill.  168 
Farnham,  52  ;    Castle,  52 
Farrer,  Sir  Thomas,  100 
Farringford,   180 
Farthing  copse,  77 
Fitz  Urse,  Reginald,  9 
Froyle  Park,  52 

Gatton  church,  iii  ;  House,  in  ; 

park,  108,  112  ;    town  hall,   no 
George  I.,  King,  121 
Gethin,   Dame  Grace,   inscription 

on  her  monument,  159 
Gethin,  Sir  Richard,  159 
Gifiard,  Lady,  56 


St.  Giles'  Hill,  fair  at,  31 

Godmersham,  50  ;  church,  179  ; 
manor,  179  ;    park,  178,  182 

Godstone,  114;  The  White  Hart 
or  Clayton  Arms,  114 

Godwin,  Earl,  168,  178 

Goldstone,  Prior,  203,  213 

Gomshall  station,  94 

Gravesend,   138 

Greenway  Court,   157 

Greenwich,   3 

Gresham,  Sir  John,  119 

Gresham,  Sir  Marmaduke,  119 

Gresham,  Sir  Thomas,  119  ;  foun- 
der of  the  Royal  Exchange, 
119  ;    portrait,   119 

Grey,  Richard  de,  founds  a  Car- 
melite Priory,  145 

Grose,  F.,  "  Antiquities  of  Eng- 
land and  Wales,"  77  note 

Grove  Court,   157 

Guildford,  3,  51,  57,  72  ;    fair  at, 

58 
Gurdon,  Adam  de,  45,  51 

Hackhurst  Downs,  94 

Halfpenny  Lane,  77 

Hailing,  Lower,  142  ;    Upper,  142 

Hampshire,  20 

Harbledown,  179,  186  ;  leper- 
house,  186;  relic  in,  187; 
royal  visitors,  198  ;  first  sight  of 
Canterbury  Cathedral  from,  191 

Harrietsham,  160  ;  church,  monu- 
ments in,  161 

Hastings,  168  ;    Battle  of,  161 

Headbourne  Worthy,  31  ;  deri- 
vation of  the  name,  33  ;  church, 

33 
Helix  pomatia,   18 
Hengist,  proclaimed  the  first  king 

of  Kent,  146 
Henry  I.,  King,  29,  41 


INDEX 


221 


Henry  II.,  King,  his  penance  at 
Becket's  tomb,  4,  14,  206  ;  visit 
to  the  leper-house  at  Harble- 
down,  188 

Henry  III.,  King,  16,  24,  52,  57, 
206 

Henry  IV.,  King,  monument  of, 
208 

Henry  V.,  King,  211 

Henry  VI.,  King,  109,  161 

Henry  VII.,  King,  158  ;  his  visit 
to  Charing,   171 

Henry  VIII.,  King,  109,  129,  130  ; 
portrait  of,  131  ;  visit  to  Char- 
ing, 171 

Herault,  Isaac,  94 

Hethe,  Bishop  Hamo  de,   142 

Hindhead,  72,  76,  80,  107 

Hog's  Back,  54,  57,  63,  76 

Holbein,  Hans,  66 

Holland,  Mary  Sybilla,  179 

Hollingbourne,  152,  153  ;  height 
of,  138  ;  history,  153  ;  church, 
monuments  in  the,  158  ;  manor- 
house,   154  ;    traditions,   154 

Holm  Castle,   104.     See  Reigate 

Holmbury,   90 

Holmesdale,  valley  of,   104 

Honywood,  Anthony,  165 

Honywood,  Dame  Mary,   165 

Horn  Hatch,  loi 

Home,  Robert,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, letter  from,  68 

Hutton,  W.  H.,  "  Thomas  Bec- 
ket,"  9  note 

Hyde,  Abbey  of,  28  ;  history, 
29  ;  ruins,  30  ;  desecration  of 
tombs,  30 

Ightham  House,  136 

Isabel,    Queen,    her   reception    at 

Chilham,   183 
Islip,  Simon,   130,  134 


Itchen  Abbas,  35,  37 

Itchen  river,  28,  29,  39  ;    valley, 

35 
Itchen  Stoke,  37 

James  I.,  King,  65  ;    his  visit  to 

Loseley,  66  ;    portrait,  66 
James,  Capt.  E.  Renouard,  "  Notes 

on  the  Pilgrims'  Way  in  West 

Surrey,"   loi   note 
John,  King,  38,  73,  178  ;    legend 

of,  82  ;  coronation,  206 
John,  King  of  France,  188 
Johnson,  Mrs.  Hester,  56 
Jones,  Sir  Inigo,  121,  132 
Josse,  St.,  shrine  of,  29 
Julaber's  grave,  183 

Katherine's,  St.,  Chapel,  69,  71  ; 
Hill,  fair  at,  59 

Kemsing,  132  ;  church  and  well, 
132 

Ken,  Morris,  50 

Kent,  Aldric,  king  of,  129 

Kent,  John,  brass  to,  33 

Kent,  Pilgrims'  Way  through, 
126 

Kingsworthy,   33 

Kitchin,  Dean,  on  the  fair  at  St. 
Giles'  Hill,  32,  40 

Kits  Coty  House,  145 

Knight,  Sir  Richard,  his  monu- 
ment in  Chawton  Church,  46 

Knockholt  down,  height  of,   138 

Laberius,  Julius,  183 

Lambarde,  W.,  190  ;  atOtford,  132 

Lanfranc,    Archbishop,    153,    169, 

176  ;    founds  a  lazar-house  at 

Harbledown,  186 
Langton,  Stephen,  Archbishop,  16 
Leeds  Castle,  154,  157 
Leith  Hill,  107 


222 


INDEX 


Leland,  J.,  170,  184,  195,  201 

Len  river,  161 

Lenham,  161  ;    church,  162-165  > 

tithe  barns,  165 
Lennard,    John,    his    monument, 

122 
Lennard,    Richard,    Lord    Dacre, 

121 
Leveson,  Sir  John,  quarterings  of, 

143 
Leveson-Gower,  Mr.,   100,   119 
Leybome,  Juliana  de,  161,  178 
Limnerslease,  69 
Limpsfield  Lodge  Farm,   117 
Littleton  Cross,  shrine  of,  69 
Long  Beech  Woods,  175 
Loseley  manor,  64  ;  royal  visitors, 
66  ;    portraits,  67  ;    royal  war- 
rants, 67  ;    letters,  68 
Louis  VIL,  King  of  France,  212 
Louis  VIII. ,  King  of  France,  72, 

105 

Lucy,  Bishop  Godfrey,  25  ;  re- 
builds the  town  of  Alresford, 
38 

Lyall,  Sir  Alfred,  180  ;  his  verses, 
180  ;    death,  180 

Maidstone,  143 

Marden  Park,  116 

Martha's,  St.,  Hill,  80;  chapel,  70, 

76  ;    view  from,  76 
Martyr's  Hill,  76 
Martyrsworthy,  34 
Massilia,  4 
Medway  river,   140,  142  ;    valley, 

137.  138 
Mercia,  Cenulph,  King  of,  169 
Mercia,  Offa,  King  of,  129,  169 
Meredith,     G.,     "  Diana     of    the 

Crossways,"  91  note 
Merstham,  108,  112  ;   church,  113 
Miller,  Sir  Hubert,  52 


Milton,  John,  his  line  on  the  River 

Mole,  95 
Mole  river,  95,  99  ;    valley,  94 
Monks'  Hatch,  69 
Monks'  Walk,  Winchester,  31,  33 
Monson,  Lord,  109,  iii 
Moor  Park,  55 
More,  Antonio,  119 
More,  Sir  Christopher,  64 
More,  Sir  William,  64 
Morley,  Bishop,  53 
Morne  Hill,  25 
Morton,    Cardinal,    his    buildings 

at  Charing,  170 
Moyle,  Sir  Thomas,  Speaker  of  the 

House  of  Commons,  177 
Mytens,  D.,  his  portraits,  66 

Newark   Hospital,    143  ;     Priory, 

77 
Newcourt,  Geoffery  de,   174 

Newcourt  manor,  174 

Newlands  Corner,  80,  82 

Nore,  the,  138 

Nore  Hill,  46 

Norfolk,  Duke  of,  53 

North  Downs,  107,  118 

Nowell,   Alexander,    Dean   of   St. 

Paul's,  letter  from,  68 

Nuns'  Walk,  Winchester,  31 

Odo  of  Bayeux,  161 

Otford,   126  ;    manor-house,   129  ; 

battles  at,  129  ;    the  Bull  Inn, 

131  ;  legends,  131 
Oxted,  117 

Paddlesworth  or  Paulsford,  138 
Palmer,     Mr.,     his     treatise     on 

"  Three  Surrey  Churches,"  vi 
Palmers  Wood,  19,  116 
Paternoster  Lane,  19,  98 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  76 


INDEX 


223 


Peckham,  John,  the  Franciscan 
Archbishop,  170 

Penenden  Heath,  150  ;  memora- 
ble assembly  held  at,  150 

Pett  Place,  174 

Pette-juxta-Charing,  174 

Pilgrims  to  Canterbury,  routes 
taken  by,  3-6,  20,  28  ;  number 
of,  12,  16-18,  193,  198  ;  traces 
of,  18,  58  ;    characteristics,  60 

Pilgrims'  Chapel,  98 

Pilgrims'  Ferry,  19,  74 

Pilgrims'  House,  138 

Pilgrims'  Lodge,  19,  120 

Pilgrims'  Place,  43 

Plantagenet,  Richard,  lais  death 
at  Eastwell,  177 

Plantagenet's  Well,  177 

Pray  Meadows,  98 

Puttenham,  58 ;  fair  at,  59 ; 
Heath,  63 

Quarry  Hangers,  114 
Quarry  Hills,  loi,  168 

Ranmore  Common,  98 

Redhill,  96 

Reigate,  99,   103  ;    chapels,   104  ; 

hill,  107 ;    park,  106 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  his  return 

from  the  Holy  Land,   171  ;    at 

Harbledown,  188  ;    Canterbury, 

206 
Richard  III.,  King,  177 
Ripley,  77 

Robbers'  or  Roamers  Moor,  58 
Robertson,  T.  C,  "  Materials  for 

the     History     of     Archbishop 

Becket,"  12  note 
Rochester,  3,   141 
Romney  Marsh,  168 
Rood,  the  miraculous,  or  winking 

image,   148 


Ropley,  43 
Rotherfield  Park,  43 
Rumbold,  St.,  the  image  of,   147 
Rupibus,  Peter  de,  45 
Rutupine,  Port,  4 

Salisbury,    John    of.    Bishop    of 

Chartres,  12 
Saltwood  Castle,  9 
Sandwich  Haven,  3,  4,  73 
Sandy  Lane,  69 
Scott,  Sir  "Walter,  on  the  death  of 

Jane  Austen,  50 
Scale,  58  ;    church,  59 
Selborne,  44 

Sellyng,   Prior  William,   154,   203 
Sesto,  Cesare  da,  iii 
Sevenoaks,   107 
Shalford,    74  ;     fair    at,    59,    74  ; 

park,  75 
Shere,  88  ;    church,  87 
Shoelands,  manor-house  of,  58 
Shooters'  Hill,  138 
Shrewsbury,  Francis,  Earl  of,  37 
Shrewsbury,  Lady,  36 
Shrewsbury,    Roger    de    Montgo- 
mery, Earl  of,  64 
Silchester,  28 

Silent  Pool,  82  ;    legend  of,  82 
Sittingbourne,  3 
Snails,  or  Helix  pomatia,  18 
Snodland,    limestone    works,   137, 

140 
Snowden-Ward,     Mr.    H.,     "  The 

Canterbury  Pilgrimages,"  vi 
Somers,  Earl,  106 
Somerset,  Lady  Henry,  106 
South  Downs,  76 
South  Leith  Hill,  76 
Southampton,  3,  20,  35 
Spenser,  Edmund,  his  lines  on  the 

Mole,  95 
Stane  Street,  97 


224 


INDEX 


Stanhope,  Charles.  Earl,  122 

Stanhope,  General,  121 

Stanhope,  Lady  Frederica,  effigy 
of,  124 

Stanhope,  Lady  Hester,  122 

Stanhope,  James,  Earl,  monument 
to,  124 

Stanley,  Dean,  5  ;  extract  from 
his  account  of  the  Canterbury 
pilgrimage,  6  ;  on  the  character- 
istics of  pilgrims,  60 

Stede,  Sir  William,  monument  to, 
161 

Stede  Hill,  160 

Stour  river,  162,  196  ;  valley, 
182,    185 

Strangers'  Hall,  Winchester,  26 

Stratford,  Archbishop,  196,  197  ; 
at  Charing,  170 

Sudbury,  Simon  of,   193 

Surrenden  Bering,   168 

Sussex  Downs,  168 

Swift,  J.,  56 

Swithun,  St.,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, 3  ;  his  shrine,  21  ;  re- 
moval of  his  bones,  22  ;  mira- 
cles wrought,  22  ;  number  of 
pilgrims  to  his  shrine,  25 

Tatsfield  church,  120 
Temple,  Sir  William,  56 
Thames  river,  126  ;  valley,  76,  138 
Thomas',  St.,  Hill,  195  ;  Hospital, 

196  ;    Well,  117 
Thurnham,   152 
Tichborne,   Isabella,  41 
Tichborne,  Sir  Roger,  41 
Tichborne   Park,    41  ;     legend   of 

the  Dole,  41-43 
Tillingbourne  stream,  87 
Titsey   Park,    117;     discovery  of 

Roman  remains  at,  100  ;   Place, 

117 


Trottescliffe  (Trosley),   138 
Tunbridge  Wells,  107 
Tupper,  Martin,  82 
Tyting's  Farm,  77 

Vandyck,  A.,  portrait  by,  83 

Vane,  Sir  Harry,  136 

Vigo  Inn,  138 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  iii 

Walkelin,  Bishop,  his  church,  25 
Walter,  Archbishop  Hubert,   196, 

206 
Wanborough,  59  ;    church,  60 
War  Camp  or  Cardinal's  Cap,  114 
Warham,    Archbishop,    149,    171, 

208 
Warrenne,  William  of,  104 
Watling  Street,  141,  186 
Watts,  George  Frederic,  69 
Wauncey,  Richard  de,  69 
Waverley  Abbey,  56,  59 
Waynflete,     Bishop    William    of, 

45.   78 
Wen,  the,  5 

Wessex,  21 

Westerham,  121 

Westhumble  Lane,  98 

Weston  Wood,  80 

Westwell,     175  ;       church,     175  ; 

manor,   176 
Wey,  river,  51,  57,  72,  75 
White,  Gilbert,  his  house  at  Sel- 

borne,  44 
White  Hill  Downs,  114 
Whiteway  End,  57 
Whitgift,  Archbishop,  196 
Whorne  Place,   142 
Wibert,  Prior,  203 
Wickens,  manor-house,   172 
Wilberforce,    Samuel,    Bishop    of 

Winchester,  place  of  his  death, 

90 


INDEX 


225 


William  III.,  King,  56,  106 

William,  King  of  Scotland,  at 
Canterbury,  206 

Winchelsea,  Archbishop,  130,  164; 
his  enthronement,  194  ;  death, 
194  ;    statutes,  201 

Winchester,  3,  20  ;  the  shrine  of 
St.  Swithun,  21  ;  number  of 
churches  and  chapels,  22  ;  buil- 
dings, 24  ;  number  of  pilgrims, 
25  ;  Nuns'  Walk,  31  ;  St.  Giles' 
Hill,  fair  at,  31 

Winders'  Hill,  116 

Windsor  Castle,  76 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,   149 

Wolvesey,  castle  of,  24,  29 


Wotton,  90 

Wotton,  Sir  Henry,  154 

Wren,  Christopher,  36 

Wriothesley,  Thomas,  his  treat- 
ment of  the  Abbey  of  Hyde,  29 

Wrotham,  132  ;  church,  135  ; 
hill,  135  ;  manor-house,  134 ; 
palace,  136 

Wulfstan,  on  the  removal  of  St. 
Swithun's  bones,  22 

Wykeham,  William  of,  24,  25,  45 

Wye,  the,  184 


Yaldham,  manor  of,  136 
Yew  trees,  6,  82,  84,  94,  99, 
126 


108, 


15 


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